2007 Mercury 115 4-stroke

[bassmann77]

I am having issues with my Merc motor. The motor will start up fine and idle all day long. Once I get it under load, I can run it for about 300 yards and the motor will hesitate and then will act like it isn't getting any gas and then it will die. If I let it sit for about 5 minutes, it will fire right up and let me go about 150 yards and do the same thing.

Here is what I have done:

1. replaced both fuel filters

2. Put in some fresh gas and sea foam.

3. Put another bottle in of high octane cleaner (recommendation from a marina)

4. Took the gas line off and started the boat to see if the pump was working and the gas will flow for a while then stop.

Since it is a newer motor, does the motor spit out codes like a car? If it does, where can a guy buy(rent) a tester and where does it plug in?

[Moose-Hunter]

4. Took the gas line off and started the boat to see if the pump was working and the gas will flow for a while then stop.

Probably a long shot... Have you checked the line for any deterioration? (sp?) Could be that the line is collapsing someplace and cutting off you fuel supply. I fought a gas fitting with a check valve that acted the same way... Ran the line dry then sucked it closed.

Just spit-ballin' some ideas...

[CAMAN]

Since it is a newer motor, does the motor spit out codes like a car? If it does, where can a guy buy(rent) a tester and where does it plug in?

Yes it does, but the consumer version made by CDI is about $2000 to buy. Don't know where/if you can rent them. Probably best/cheapest to bring it to an authorized Merc Mech to run a scan on it.

[Loon]

Is it giving you any audible alarms (annoying beeps) after it dies? Kinda sounds like it's gone into "Guardian" mode where the ECM limits power to prevent engine damage.

You can search "ECM 555" and find a relatively inexpensive code reader in the $500 range but taking it in and paying $50 to have it scanned makes much more sense. They have the laptop version that spits out a nice little history like a carfax for your motor.

One last thing to check is the main plug. Those have a tendency to not stay tight and that will cause your motor to do all sorts of crazy things. Make sure that plug is tight.

[FM_Mike]

I had the same issue you seem to have. Mine was a bad fuel pump. Once replaced. no more issues. Mine happened on a 6 month old motor.

Dealer would still be your best bet, while we may be good backyard mechanics we are not the dealer.

Mike

[bassmann77]

Well I finally got it figured out. I replaced the float and the motor is running like a charm. It was pretty easy to access the float and replace it and put it all back together.