The restoration of Never Monday, 1989 340DA updated 08/29/07

Your cold start problem is happening because your chokes are not closing. You are getting the engines to run by manually priming with the throttle control when you pump the throttles.

The choke pull off on your motors is very simple and should be bullet proof, except for one little design problem. There is a bimetallic spring under a stamped steel cover plate in the intake manifold directly under the choke on the side of the carburetor. When the spring is cold, it should contract and pull the choke open. As the engine warms up, the spring relaxes and allows the choke to open. The problem is that the location of the little spring in such that any moisture that gets on top of the engine gets in it, that and time cause the spring and choke mechanism to freeze, usually in the open position.

Try carefully taking the cover off and removing the spring assembly, cleaning it with a light oil and reassembling it. If you find one broken.....not unusual.... go to a Mercruiser dealer and ask a mechanic if he has an extra one he'll let you have....he probably has a shoe box full of them. Most experienced Merc mechanics never throw one of these things away. They fail so often that the experienced guys keep those of every motor they replace.
 
Thanks Frank!
Mine do exactly the same thing. My lack of Mercruiser experience would have gotten me to thoes eventualy.

Skip,
I'm shooting for enough range to jump from the Turks to the Dominican. I want to be able to go down island. I think 600miles is my goal.
 
SkipBarnes said:
It was either that or you were just plain nuts :smt001
Click to expand...

I think ya'll have caught on to me.

My cammera fell out of the truck so no new pictures till I win another on Ebay.
Sh'e floated for almost a week on her own with minimal intervention from my pumps....YEAH.
 
A quick yet a more permanent fix for the great choke design but crappy location Mercruiser chose is to convert the choke assembly to an aftermarket electric choke.

You guys might look at that if your spring pulloffs are too crusty to work with.
 
Frank,

What do the 2 wires do that are connected to the choke do? <at least on mine there are <'95 454>

Thanks
Larry
 
How are they supposed to work? Are they supposed to close when you hit the ignition?...then open slowly??
 
LMBoat said:
How are they supposed to work? Are they supposed to close when you hit the ignition?...then open slowly??
Click to expand...

The choke is activated when you turn on the ignition. The electricity heats a metal coil connected to a detent connected to the butterfly. When the coil gets warm it starts to unwind pusheing the detent from left to right forcing the butterfly open. That is it.

When the choke opens, the linkage pushes a cam in front of the throttle mechanism forcing a higher RPM to start. Once warmed up, the throttle operates again, the cam falls out of the way and then there is normal idling.

Try applying voltage across the choke's contacts to see if it operates. You might try spraying a little starting fluid into the carb to see if the choke is actually the problem (be careful or you won't have any eyebrows left at the end of the day!)

I think we have to use this topic again for the Never Monday project! :wink:
Maybe we can make a new topic if you need more answers.

Succes Peter
 
never monday said:
I thought I'd take a diversion from my own thread for a shameless plug. This will sort of explain why I'm doing this project that most would sacrifice to the chain saw. I'm going to spend some more time with her this afternoon after I close the store. I'll have more pics up tonight.
Click to expand...

Hee Pat,

What is happening??

Any news, progress, photo’s??

Peter
 
Well, I haven't done anything in the las week or so to report. I've down with a nasty cold/flu and stuck at home. I did arange for a better slip with less motion and a shorter walk.
 
never monday said:
Well, I haven't done anything in the las week or so to report. I've down with a nasty cold/flu and stuck at home. I did arange for a better slip with less motion and a shorter walk.
Click to expand...

Ok Pat sorry to hear that you are ill...

Maybe you have to winterize yourself with a little calvados. :wink:

The best to you

Peter
 
Hee Pat,

How are you??

Do you have any progress on never monday?

Hope to here from you.

Peter
 
I haven't done anything. My work load is insane for winter time.
When spring gets here and the daylight lasts past 5:30 i'll be working on her. For now, I'm just treading water.
 
Just the phone call no one want. "your boat is sinking again"

Well I have a great slip neighbor. He calls me anytime the swim platform is awash. I haven't been to the boat in 2 weeks due to work and getting ready for the boat show. I t appears my "heavy duty" Lowes special sump pump died. After pumping her back out all is normal.
 
What a nasty day to move a boat.
After replacing the starter on the port engine. It sheared the Bendix off. I cranked'em both up, and off we went to our new slip. It was about a 30min run at 2000 RPM. the Stbd engine was still pulling some bad gas and mabey a little water off of the bottom of the tank and sputtering occasionally. After about 10 min it calmed down and ran pretty well. I can't get her to plane and run over 3000 rpm. I guess with all the furniture out of the cabin there is no weight forward.
What a great adventure for a boat sooo many people have written off.
Even with the constant drizzle and occasional down pour, I had a blast making the run.
 
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