I have a new to me 2001 Mercury 125 hp ELPTO motor. I have just replaced the water impeller as well as new spark plugs. It has a very tough "cold Start" and I was wondering if its more me and what i am doing or what I am putting/not putting in it?

Boat has a hot foot and that too is new to me so I am not sure if I am using it right during starting.

I always used 1 can of seafoam for every full tank of gas with my old boat. so I plan to do the same with this one. However I have been reading about other products.
Quickleen, Stabil Marine, Marvel Mystery Oil.

Should I be adding these too? if so which ones and how much?
What is the difference in the three products?

Also do I need to add anything to the oil?(mystery oil) I use the basic TC-W3 oil from walmart. Never been told to add anything else.

Thanks for the help and insight.

As far as oil goes I use the oem Quicksilver Premium Plus in my XR6. I had a 91 115 and now this 01 XR6 since new and believe me they were/are the coldest natured motors I have ever known. I learned a trick a long time ago was squeeze the primer bulb up tight then turn on the key and depress the enrichment/choke and hold it for a count of one thousand 1-10 and release. Throttle up slightly and prepare to feather it. Then hit the start and mine always fires right up. Oh and I put a one pint can of Seafoam in for every 16 gallons of fuel I put in or stay with a 1oz @ 1gal ratio. That will keep the carbon build up down. Try that next time you are out.

Yes this motor is very cold natured and one of the few 2 stroke outboards that have an accelerator pump. So after pumping the bulb up good you can indent the control and pump the throttle to help. Replace the clear oil lines on this motor unless they have already been changed. Many motor failures because of a broken oil line on these motors. Alarm will not go off until oil reservoir is almost empty.

I can not be much help to you, but I can give you my experience with a 2001 Merc 125 Saltwater model. It was always very hard to start after setting for a couple weeks or more. Over a time period of three or four years I took it to three different Mercury dealers to try to get the problem resolved. The last dealer told me that the motor was just cold natured. I just accepted that and would start it on the hose at home before taking it to the launching ramp. When the motor was about 8 yrs old I took it to a independent repair shop to get the impeller changed out. After this I noticed that the cold natured motor was never hard to start any more. I went back to the shop and ask the guy what he had done to correct the starting problem as there were no additional charges when I picked the boat up. He smiled and said, "When we finish a repair we take the boat to the launch ramp to make sure there is no problem with the repair. If it is hard to start we fix that too." I sold the boat to a family member in 2011 and to this day the motor is not hard to start. I still don't know what he did to fix it but I know that it can be fixed and most likely it is a simple fix because he did not charge me any thing to correct the problem. I know that this story is not much help but Don't give up, it can be fixed if the right repair man get on it.

I've removed the oil injection on mine.... Seafoam every other tank.....ethanol free gas always.....carbs gone through and she's still a cold natured old girl......but she runs like a scalded a$$ ape so I love her

Po Boy if you could ask them to tell you their trick I'm sure MANY of us all around the fishing world would love to know. I will ask the guys at my local marine but I doubt they will give me the fix.

Mine still has the oil injection and I think I will keep it this season and maybe look to change it next winter. Having to do to many fixes right now. (steering cable) My goal is to just get her running good for spring that is coming up quick.

I will try the count down method while holding the choke in. I was told that you hold the choke in for a count of 5 or 5 seconds and then while pushing the key in "choking" you then turn the key and hold it in. If you hear it try to hit then you press the hotfoot "throttle" and release the choke. you keep doing this until she hits. thats what the previous owner told me but I could tell he had fired it up before I arrived to look at her.

So you said a count of 1000 1-10 are you saying a count to 10 or 10 seconds? like 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000, etc and then press the throttle before I hit the key. sounds simple and NOT what he told me.. hehe

Yup works like a champ on mine. With the exception of when it sets up during the winter it smokes a lot because the fuel evaporates and leaves the oil buildup but it still fires right up.

I just did a couple searches on here and you would not believe all the post that had either something good ort bad about all the different furl additives on the market. Some use nothing at all, some use only seafoam, some use ringfire, some Quickleen, or stabil, or many use any two or even three of the listed above in a mix or cocktail. some just buy any fuel injector cleaner and some only buy non ethanol gas in 93 grade. some have never had problems and some have blown their motor. I really can't find any one thing that seems to be best for everyone. kind of like asking what bait, line, boat, rod, we all like the best..

Oh well I will get some stabil marine and some seafoam and go that route and hope i pick the best. Think I might try and use the mid grade gas too.

mine is about to sit for around a month. but after I take it out the next time I plan to change the spark plugs. then use it a lot the rest of the year.

Read the Sea Foam info and forget the stabil. I have 3 or 4 outboards every year that I find the reason they will not run right is the owner has put too many different additives in the fuel.

[quote=bigvoldaddy]Po Boy if you could ask them to tell you their trick I'm sure MANY of us all around the fishing world would love to know. I will ask the guys at my local marine but I doubt they will give me the fix.

I wish I could tell you what he did but I could not get him to explain it any more than he just made some adjustments. I was so happy that it was fixed that I did not want to press him on it.
Another thing that I would advise you to do is if your fuel lines are the gray colored Mercury hose, check them out, may just want to change them out because eythnol fuel will eat them up from the inside and cause you big time problems. The guy that bought my boat had to change them out shortly after he bought it from me. The guy that fixed my starting problem advised him to change them.When they took them off they had started going bad but had not done any damage to the motor. He caught it in time.

Yea Seafoam is all you really need. I know a lot of people that use concoctions but that's to much trouble and can be over doing it and really cause problems. Quickleen and Ringfire are the mfg's label de-carb at a higher price. I watch Walmart and/or O'Rilley's to see when they put Seafoam on sale and will stock up. I run a can in my F150's every time I get them serviced also. Carp I even put it in the lawnmower and weedeater gas. Maybe I ought to buy stock!

New fuel line and bulb is on my list. New filter too. Going to do the fuel line and filter this weekend I hope. the line from the Gray end to the tank I don't think I can change out myself. I can get access to it.

I have ran seafoam in all my lawn care motors for the last three years. just have to watch the ratio. and i run it in the truck from time to time too. Maybe we can go in together and get it in bulk for a better price.


BTW i have been e-mailing back and forth with Brian at Seafoam and got some very good info that i may share here if anyone wants to read it. just not sure how to post it

I also have a 125 saltwater model and cold starting sob, new plugs help but soon back to cold starts.
I have a mechanic that i am going to see if he can fix it.
They idle on two carbs and switch to four for full throttle, a bad design but again i do believe it is all about tuning and adjustments .