I inherited a 1995 Spectrum Dominator 17' Aluminum Boat with a 60/45 Mercury Jet 2 Stroke engine. It had been sitting winterized for 2 to 3 years. I got it to where it would start and run in the driveway by putting the motor in a tote full of water that I jacked up to the motor.
When we got to the boat launch the mercury warning beep was going off beep beep beep which is indicator of the oil tank being low. The oil tank was over half full so I laughed and started to boat. My goal was to get good fresh gas flowing through it and to run it for a while.
About 3 hours into being out on the lake that included anchoring for a short fish and lunch break with the engine off, the Tach gauge quit working and no longer showed engine RPMs.
The engine was still running find and sounded fine. Then about 4 to 5 hours of boating we brought her in. There was a line at the dock so we shut off the engine. I wasn't able to get it re-fired on the lake and have not had time to mess with it since. My plan is to unhook the speaker so I can actually hear what the engine is doing or not doing when I'm trying to start it.
It has new plugs that were installed by me with the proper torque before this outing. It also has a new fuel pump. The tank was empty when I started working on it.
The gas I added was 5 gallons of Shell Nitro Plus 91 octane ethanol free. Both batteries were fully charged before launching and I could have used either as a starter.
The thing I find most concerning is losing the Tach gauge. I'm hoping the engine didn't blow.
When we got to the boat launch the mercury warning beep was going off beep beep beep which is indicator of the oil tank being low. The oil tank was over half full so I laughed and started to boat. My goal was to get good fresh gas flowing through it and to run it for a while.
About 3 hours into being out on the lake that included anchoring for a short fish and lunch break with the engine off, the Tach gauge quit working and no longer showed engine RPMs.
The engine was still running find and sounded fine. Then about 4 to 5 hours of boating we brought her in. There was a line at the dock so we shut off the engine. I wasn't able to get it re-fired on the lake and have not had time to mess with it since. My plan is to unhook the speaker so I can actually hear what the engine is doing or not doing when I'm trying to start it.
It has new plugs that were installed by me with the proper torque before this outing. It also has a new fuel pump. The tank was empty when I started working on it.
The gas I added was 5 gallons of Shell Nitro Plus 91 octane ethanol free. Both batteries were fully charged before launching and I could have used either as a starter.
The thing I find most concerning is losing the Tach gauge. I'm hoping the engine didn't blow.
