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Fishy Cover · 08-11-2009, 01:51 PM

I had the same problem with a Mercruiser 3.7. After a mechanic changed the points, rotor, condenser and coil it ran in the driveway (with earmuffs) but stalled out when I accelerated on the lake. Next I changed the fuel filter and dumped the contents into a clear container and it was 90% water. So I drained the tank thru the hose attached to the fuel pick-up and there was some water but not as much as I expected. I also found that the hose from the fuel pump to the fuel filter had a kink in it that may have restricted fuel flow so I replaced it. I know that there could be a small amount of water in the bottom of the tank that the pick-up did not reach so I poured in two bottles of drygas and 1 bottle of Seafoam and then added 10 gals of fresh gas.

It started in 2 seconds and ran well on the lake at varying speeds from idle to 4000 RPM for the first hour and then I took a prospective buyer out for a second hour: still no problems. Hurray!

The buyer trailered it to his lake last Sunday and added about 15 gals of fresh gas along the way.

The buyer called me on Monday to tell me that he had been out for about 3 hours the engine ran well but he was now in the middle of his lake and the engine had stalled and would not start.

Although it was an as-is sale I feel badly about it. It does not seem that he would be out of gas-- combined we put in 25 gals and ran the boat 2 hrs here and 3 hrs there. Is this engine that thirsty?

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

08-11-2009, 01:51 PM	#79
Fishy Cover Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 135 Thanks: 10 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	I Had The Same Problem I had the same problem with a Mercruiser 3.7. After a mechanic changed the points, rotor, condenser and coil it ran in the driveway (with earmuffs) but stalled out when I accelerated on the lake. Next I changed the fuel filter and dumped the contents into a clear container and it was 90% water. So I drained the tank thru the hose attached to the fuel pick-up and there was some water but not as much as I expected. I also found that the hose from the fuel pump to the fuel filter had a kink in it that may have restricted fuel flow so I replaced it. I know that there could be a small amount of water in the bottom of the tank that the pick-up did not reach so I poured in two bottles of drygas and 1 bottle of Seafoam and then added 10 gals of fresh gas. It started in 2 seconds and ran well on the lake at varying speeds from idle to 4000 RPM for the first hour and then I took a prospective buyer out for a second hour: still no problems. Hurray! The buyer trailered it to his lake last Sunday and added about 15 gals of fresh gas along the way. The buyer called me on Monday to tell me that he had been out for about 3 hours the engine ran well but he was now in the middle of his lake and the engine had stalled and would not start. Although it was an as-is sale I feel badly about it. It does not seem that he would be out of gas-- combined we put in 25 gals and ran the boat 2 hrs here and 3 hrs there. Is this engine that thirsty? If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.