out board engine starting trouble

lushnick

I have a mercury 8hp, can be a bitch to start,any one out there who can help?
pissing me of big time:mad:

fergal.b

Hi lushnick welcome to the forum. This could be any number of things from bad spark to bad fuel, Check for a good bright spark and do a compression test on the cylinder. Is a 2 or 4 stroke, if there is a vent screw on the tank make sure it's open, check the primer bulb valves are not blocked and you have no leaks along the line.
Try pulling the choke out and turn over the engine "don't start it" then push the choke back in and start.

lushnick

Hi fergal the engine is a 4stroke have to pull her to start, i checked the plugs spark on one of the plugs not on the other, tried her with new plugs made no
deference, thinking could it be the coil? how do you check the compression?

fergal.b

To do a compression test you will need one of these you can get them from most motor factors but I'd say the lack of spark is your problem, check the lanyard switch by finding the CDM box and disconnect the black wire and then try and start it if it works then the problem is in the switch. Other than that it could be a bad trigger,coil or starter.
You could also swap the green coil wires from the top coil to the bottom and the bottom to the top to see if makes a difference.