# 2013 Merc 9.9 carb rebuild



## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I purchased a new Lund in 2013. The 9.9 has never run the way I think is should. There is that spot 1.1 to 1.4ish that it hates to go in and once you get it to the "speed" it eventually changes on it's own. It is maddening to attempt to get it to run there. It does not idle as smooth as I think it should either.
I am not a mechanical wizard but can do small projects. Should I attempt to rebuild the carb or take to a professional? If I should attempt it does anyone know offhand where to find a good guide to follow? I have heard folks say its easy but then again I have never attempted a carb before. I don't want to end up with a bucket of bolts... Or is there some adjustment I should attempt?
I suppose the follow up question would be, if you think I should have someone else do it, who? I live in N. Columbus.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

DON<T take it apart. take it to VICS marine in brimfield, by adj and tinkering with the adjustments just makes things worse. you,ll learn its a lot cheaper for a experienced mech to do it,


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Ever consider the problem being located outside the carb? Like the fhrottle linkage ?


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

It certainly could be as I know nothing of how it should be set up.


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## steelneyes2 (Jul 19, 2011)

Besides not knowing what you are doing, you can void your warranty if you still have one by taking it apart and messing with it. Usually a carb will be a progressive problem that would have gotten worse by now. There is a good chance that depending on the size of the boat you are trying to hit the speed at which the carburetor is transferring from the low speed to the high speed jets. All motors have this point and you may be unfortunately right there where you want to have better speed control. My kicker doesn't like to be between 1.7 and 2.0. anywhere else it is perfectly happy. Shortdrift is on a good track with the throttle linkage and it could just be a bad spot where the throttle cable wanders a bit as well. You need to have it looked at in the water where you can show the mechanic what you want it to do and what it isn't doing. I'm relatively sure you can give someone $200 and they will rebuild and clean your carburetor and you'll still have the same problem.


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

Carb rebuild is easy. Avoid vics like the plague if your in cbus go see steve at knox marine alot closer to you and a hell of a lot better reputation than vic.

Could be something very simple such as throttle linkage or just a little gunk in the carb. Have you checked your fuel filters and your primer bulb? If its only got one spot that its not running right its probably something simple.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

My brand new Merc 9.9 does the same thing. Idle gives me 1.0 mph, crack the throttle butterfly & I am doing 2.0 mph. Rebuilding carb wont help. I did some research & seems that this is a common problem on these motors. Making the idle mixture a little richer can help. You got to drill out the brass plug covering the mixture screw to do that & then back out the screw 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Seems the factory sets the idle mixture very lean. Since mine is a new motor on a new boat it is going back to dealer to fix. Hope this helps.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

When I bought mine a couple years ago, I called Merc. They said "feel free to take it in, If there is any dirt in it I will be charged full price for repairs" This will probably be my last Merc.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

TO D HOWER ,VIC,S marine has a great rep in this area, WHY THE BASH. they,ve lot of work for us guys at a fair price.


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

Bounty hunter ive heard to many horrow stories about vics hoorible cs. A guy in our club dropped 60k on a new ranger at the end of last summer had a few factory issues with the trailer. These issues had to be taken care of by himself plus the help of knox marine. As soon as they get your money forget it. When your getting ready to spend the money your important as soon as they get it they could give two shits and ive heard this from more than one person


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

Here's another possibility + my thoughts on a potential factory lean idle mixture setting. The synchronization might be off or need tweaked slightly. What I'm referring to is the relationship between the spark advance & when the throttle butterfly starts to open. On almost all carbureted outboard motors there is a specific recommendation regarding this adjustment. It's referred to as throttle pick-up timing. You'll definitely want to make sure that the pick-up point has been set correctly. You'll have to reference the appropriate service manual to check this. This should have been set at the factory but could have changed over time also I'd remove the plug that blocks access to the low speed mixture screw as Meerkat suggested & try making small adjustments there next. After removing the tamper resistant plug, the first thing you'll want to do is check where the factory had the mixture adjustment set. Turn the mixture screw in GENTLY until it stops, making sure to see exactly how far out from seated the low speed needle was in the first place. Record the setting for possible future reference. Next, try backing out the low speed needle by 1/8 turn increments from the original setting (after the motor has been brought up to operating temperature). You'll have to evaluate the performance (idle quality/speed & accelleration) between adjustments to see if enrichening the setting helped. Mike


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Meerkat said:


> My brand new Merc 9.9 does the same thing. Idle gives me 1.0 mph, crack the throttle butterfly & I am doing 2.0 mph. Rebuilding carb wont help. I did some research & seems that this is a common problem on these motors. Making the idle mixture a little richer can help. You got to drill out the brass plug covering the mixture screw to do that & then back out the screw 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Seems the factory sets the idle mixture very lean. Since mine is a new motor on a new boat it is going back to dealer to fix. Hope this helps.


As above, too lean out of the factory to meet emission spec's. Had to do this to my 9.9 Merc as well as my 20hp Yammy. Problem solved.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

If the mixture screw is under the brass cap, where is the low speed needle adjustment?


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

I haven't looked at the parts diagram for your engine, but In most carburetors it is fairly high on the carb body. It can be on the front or side. Most carb idle circuits have a series of 2 or 3 very small holes that are oriented @ 12 o'clock as you look at the throttle butterfly (the round flap). The tip of the idle mixture screw generally lies in close proximity to the small holes that get 'uncovered' as the throttle plate is opened. Mike


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## Popspastime (Apr 1, 2014)

Gottagofishn said:


> When I bought mine a couple years ago, I called Merc. They said "feel free to take it in, If there is any dirt in it I will be charged full price for repairs" This will probably be my last Merc.


Why should Merc be responsible for dirty gas.. ?? Thats totally your fault not theirs.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I called them a couple weeks after I bought the boat. At that point I hadn't put any gas in it.


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

The mixture screw is the low speed adjustment. The only other external adjustment screw will be the idle stop screw on the throttle linkage The high speed circuit should have a fixed jet located in the bottom of the carburetor bowl. All of the later model Mercury outboard that I have serviced in the last 5-10 years have a nice water separating fuel filter. The bowl can be removed to check for the presence of water & the filter can be cleaned & reinstalled. We have a 8 HP here @ the FD that had a bunch of pieces of black sediment (rubber) appear in the filter housing a couple of years ago. Turns out that the interior of the Quicksilver (Mercury brand) primer bulb was badly deteriorated & breaking down. I pulled the carb & was surprised that none of the debris had made it's way into the bowl. Mike


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Throw a can of seafoam in it.


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

Fuel quality is everything. Ethanol free fresh gas = happy outboard. A 2013 can run ethanol, but it is still trash fuel. My old merc (2007) was the same way. Clean new plus aren't a bad start either. Make sure they are gapped correctly. Start with the cheap and easy, then get more complex as needed. FWIW Vic's has always done me and my buddies right. Any lack of cs is because they are so damn busy.


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

Capt-jrod is spot on about the fundamentals. This dang ethanol they put in our fuel causes plenty of problems.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I have an appointment with Knox Marine to fix the issue. With any luck he will let me watch. I would really like to do it myself but with a vacation coming up I would hate to screw it up.

I will repost after vacation and let you know how it turned out.

Thanks for all the input.
Al


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

My boat is back with Vics for the same issue. I will also report back on what they find/fix. Least I hope they fix it!


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## capt j-rod (Feb 14, 2008)

Meerkat said:


> My boat is back with Vics for the same issue. I will also report back on what they find/fix. Least I hope they fix it!


Impossible... According to the previous post they disappear after the check clears? Insert sarcasm here ------! Just don't buy anything new and shiny while you're there!


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Well... here is the update... I took it in today and Mark did find the expected buildup in the carb and jet. He cleaned that out, adjusted the carb and it was still a little rough. He pulled the plugs to find the bottom one fouled. We put in two new ones, ran it for a few minutes and pulled it again. It was black again. He ran a compression check and checked for spark everything seemed to be ok. He ran some decarbonizer through it and thought it helped a bit. He is thinking that a valve might be sticking.
I will run it a bit and see what happens. Hopefully if this issue doesn't clear up Mercury will help out as the issue was present when I took delivery.
As far Mark, He dropped everything when I got there to work on my boat. I believe he went the extra mile problem solving and with the cost. I will go back.

If anyone has had this issue (Bottom plug fouling) please let me know what the issue was and if/ how you resolved it.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

Got my boat back from Vics. They removed brass plug & adjusted mixture. Seems a little better but throttle adjustment at slow speed is still really sensitive. So I will continue working on it & post if I figure it out.


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## tomb (Oct 9, 2004)

Meerkat said:


> Got my boat back from Vics. They removed brass plug & adjusted mixture. Seems a little better but throttle adjustment at slow speed is still really sensitive. So I will continue working on it & post if I figure it out.


Are you manually adjusting throttle or using Contolking, Trollmaster, or other aftermarket controller? Pretty sure manually adjusting throttle is a pain unless you add one of those long extensions to tiller handle.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Just got back from a week at Erie. As expected, the problem still exists. I'll be back in touch with Knox and repost.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

tomb said:


> Are you manually adjusting throttle or using Contolking, Trollmaster, or other aftermarket controller? Pretty sure manually adjusting throttle is a pain unless you add one of those long extensions to tiller handle.


I have a Controlking but it goes from idle to 2000 rpm by moving the knob on the controller about 1/32 inch. Works fine from there up to full throttle. It is just in that critical speed range you need for trolling that it is so super sensitive. I think I am going to talk to Brian at Aquatech in Lorain. He has done work for me over the years & is very good - when you can reach him


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## gino (May 14, 2008)

It's a shame that an engine that is three years old would have issues like that I'm sure you worked hard to save and by a boat and motor and have to do all this extra running around I think that's total bull unfortunately it's a domestic product I'm not knocking merc but it seems everone I know that has one has some issue or another we have a 15 horse Honda on our duck boat I think it's an 05 and I think we changed the oil a few times never do much to it and yet when duck season comes around it starts first pull it's unfortunate but good luck I'm sure you will get it figured out


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## eyedreamn (Jun 12, 2011)

Meerkat said:


> Got my boat back from Vics. They removed brass plug & adjusted mixture. Seems a little better but throttle adjustment at slow speed is still really sensitive. So I will continue working on it & post if I figure it out.


Had the same issue with my 2011 merc pro kicker on my FM from vics.
We played the carb game for a year.
I got ride of the dumb thing and bought a Yamaha 9.9 it's a machine!

No comparison to the pro kicker. That thing stunk. If you need to take a brand new kicker back to the dealer for them to drill it out something is wrong. I can't tell you how many of my buds had the same issue.

Yamaha solved the problem...


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

very true I had two 9.9 mercs ,got rid of them and have a yamaha T8 on the boat been there fout three yrs and never a problem. you gotta look for the pee water to no its running.and it,ll troll under 1mph.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

Well I broke out the tools & tuned the motor myself. Now it is running just fine. What I found was the mixture screw was all the way in. I mean like screwed in tight! Backed it off 3 turns, put one turn on idle speed screw after it just touched the stop. Started the motor in a garbage can. Turned mixture screw in till rpm's dropped off. Put it in gear and adjusted the idle. Now it purrs like a kitten. 

Btw something i did find is the motor is made by Tohatsu. 

On the Yamaha 9.9. My son now has the one I bought new in 1988 to push a little 14' boat. Never done a thing to it & still runs like a top. One pull & she fires right up.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Have you had it out trolling yet? If so, did it solve the the sensitive issue? Mine went to Knox yesterday. I am supposed to get a call today to let me know what Merc is going or not going to do with it. Or if he is able to solve the mystery of the fouling bottom plug.


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## ohiojmj (Apr 16, 2004)

You would think after selling pro kickers for so many years that the manufacturer would provide them with the ability for controllable low idle that they are intended for. Yet, year after year, they bolt that same lousy carb on them and ship them out the door when other brands run more trouble-free with carbs or that new fangled invention called fuel injection. I've cleaned, tweeked, and tweeked my carb and Controlking to obtain somewhat reasonable control in the trolling speed range, but will never be happy with my 9.9 Merc.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

Gottagofishn said:


> Have you had it out trolling yet? If so, did it solve the the sensitive issue? Mine went to Knox yesterday. I am supposed to get a call today to let me know what Merc is going or not going to do with it. Or if he is able to solve the mystery of the fouling bottom plug.


Yes, I had it out yesterday and it is way better than it was. But like Ohiojmj, I was expecting more control in the trolling speed range.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Welll.... Hopefully this is my last update. Mark called form Knox today. He found that the oil was overfilled (courtesy of my last warranty oil change by a popular Boat dealer north of Columbus.) This was causing the bottom plug to foul out. He said he drained some oil and it purrs as it should.

Key points learned....
Find a reputable dealer/mechanic
Never go anywhere else for anything, regardless of how simple it may seem.
Pride in workmanship is hard to find, do it yourself if you can as no one cares as much as you.


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## Meerkat (Aug 10, 2008)

Gottagofishn said:


> Welll.... Hopefully this is my last update. Mark called form Knox today. He found that the oil was overfilled (courtesy of my last warranty oil change by a popular Boat dealer north of Columbus.) This was causing the bottom plug to foul out. He said he drained some oil and it purrs as it should.
> 
> Key points learned....
> Find a reputable dealer/mechanic
> ...


Good deal! Glad you got it fixed!


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## chatterbox (Jan 7, 2013)

Mercs to 30hp. are Tohatsu, Mercs on up to 150hp. are Chinese, and mercs above 150 are American made. Tohatsu are $300.00 to $400.00 cheaper than a Merc. I don't know why, mercury name means nothing. The Company is now a Japanese company. They also now quit making repair parts after 12 years. Try to force people to buy another outboard. President Ronald Reagan and N.A.F.T.A., along with president Bill Clinton.

I read, there is a conflict brewing because Bombardier is trying to contract Tohatsu to manufacture their outboards to 30 hp. as well. Bombardier has trouble meeting E.P.A. standards in small motors. Tohatsu also makes Nissan outboards.


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