being towed in sucks!!!

Got to Lewisville around 1pm, caught a few crappie, decided to mark some more timber that is in the open areas of the main lake, was trolling along and the engine started sputtering then died and wouldn't start. Some new guy on the forum was hybrid fishing and came over to check on me. He is towing me back to arrowhead all the way from little elm area.

That sucks Stretch! Isn't that a new motor?

Dang man! I've been there. It does suck!
Hope it's just a minor fix dude.
Kudos' to the new guy on here that came over to help you out!

Its a 2008 with 130 hrs on it, luckily I spent the $50 to transfer the warranty plan...was hoping to never have to use it.

Good deal right there. Glad you have a warranty. Would't surprise me if was a clogged filter or bad gas lines.

Thats the first thing I thought of.

Make sure you were not attacked by Zebra Mussels....

Man sorry to hear of the troubles stretch. At least someone came to your aid. I have been there before with no one around and had to call in for help.

This + 1....clogged filter or bad gas lines

130 hours mean it's barely broken in.

Glad somebody was willing to take the time to help you. I've seen several boats towed in while at the marina the last week.

The starting battery went out on my new pontoon Friday afternoon. It's six weeks old.

Fortunately I carry a Power Station with me so I was able to start the motor and run the boat off that while I returned to the slip. I could have used my trolling batteries but the Power Station is easier.

I bought it for peace of mind when traveling but I am glad I decided to put it in my boat each time I take the boat out.

Fuel filter looks brand new. Kill switch is OK. What next?

Take it to the shop. B.O.A.T. Bust out another thousand.

Really pisses me off cause I was catching some fish on Lewisville finally.

That does suck, but what sucks more is driving 100 miles and putting a brand new boat in the water that has not even been sold and going fishing. First stop we ran a good was down the lake on Sam Rayburn and fished a tree line. The boat never started again that night anyway, yes we were night fishing.
We troll motored all the way back to the launch took 11 hours. Back them the troll motors mostly were 12V and we used up every battery in the boat getting back. Plus the wind was up pretty good so some of out ride back was in pretty big waves.

maybe its losing its prime ? air getting in the line somehow ?
lose connection er a pin hole in the hose maybe ...
just guessin

Sorry about the boat trouble. Happened to me two years ago so I started the Lake Lewisville Fishing Club to meet fellow anglers so we could help each other out in those situations, share with the fishing and just make some friends who fished the area lakes as well.

Were you the red tracker being towed in? Man, you guys were moving along!!!

yep, that was us.

glad someone was there to help.

Some new guy? Sounds like a really good guy, he have a name?

Sorry about the troubles, we all have them sooner or later, but we don't always get a good person to help us out.

Mark, he was hybrid fishing and caught a nice one while he was towing me in. Said he goes by marksalot on here. I was very thankful that he was able to help and he towed me several miles out of his way.

I was at Brass Pro Shop this morning getting a new battery to replace the 6 week old battery that died on me.

The service rep there was telling another person he needed to check his fuel line for a similar problem. She told him that a lot of older boats were having problems right now due to the fuel lines getting hard and deteriorating from the inside. She stated that the lines were shedding junk that was then clogging the carburetor, keeping the motor from running.

She also said that a lot of the older fuel lines did not meet the new required pressure standards and the game wardens on some lakes were issuing tickets for the outdated fuel lines on some lakes as part of a safety inspection.

She did not state what was considered an older boat, she simply stated everybody should inspect their fuel lines on a regular basis.

Mark is a good guy. He fishes Lewisville quite a bit (comes up from Duncanville). Glad he caught a nice Hybrid.

The gas hose bulbs do go bad. I carry an extra in my boats just cause I've had one go out on me before.
I keep a soft tool bag full of about 4' of fuel line hose, clamps, fuses, spare bulb, spare light bulbs, jumper cables, duct tape, bailin wire and a cheap Volt Meter.
I once had an old 79 Cajun Bass Boat - The steering cable broke as I was bobbing and weaving down the lake thru the standing timber. We litterally crashed in a tall tree. I cut the livewell hose out of my livewell, split it and used it as a sheeth, wrapped it with rope, duct tape and some bailing wire, went back to fishing.

I have an 09 optimax 90 on my boat and it did the same thing. Was under warranty and they found a gas boot going from the fuel pump to motor cracked from supposedly the bad gas.

I have the mpp extended warranty but there is nothing like solving your own problem and learning a ton of stuff about your engine in the process. I've already learned a lot from the guys in the boat & motor section that are trying to help me resolve the issue. I have fuel going to the injector block so not sure fuel is the issue even though that seems like the logical choice.

Spoke to mechanic at Lake Park Marine at lunch while picking up new plugs to try. He said the newer motors are equipped with proper hoses and such to handle the ethanol so that shouldn't be an issue. I explained what happened and what all I've checked and he says it should be firing up, he has seen the plugs prevent them from starting. Wish me luck tonight.

Good luck

GOOD LUCK
When we 1st moved to the lake, I had a Skeeter Starfire with 175 Mariner. the first 3 trips out, I had to get towed back in. The floats in the carbs had small holes & would fill up with fuel when the motor was trimmed down for awhile & it would flood out.
Later was fishing a tourney on Fork, running wide open to weigh in & threw half the gear out of the side of the lower unit. Could see them weighing in. Luckily somebody stopped & towed us in just in time. We took 1st place & my wife had big bass.
I stop whenever I thing somebody is having trouble, towed a pontoon in last Saturday.
Hope you get your issue worked out soon.

Headed to shop tomorrow. Pretty sure its the ecm.

At least that will be covered right?

The MPP plan shows it listed so we will see how mercury handles customer service. Glad he bought the $900 platinum plan.

Just heard that the ECM is bad, they're researching why it went bad before replacing it. Waiting sucks and it sounds like I'm not going fishing this weekend.

Now you know. You'll be back out there in no time!

Get well soon! I mean I hope they fix your outboard soon.

Should've called Spanky. He'd figure it out Clint.

Two coils went out and burned up ecm. Parts are on the way. Hoping to have back on Friday.

Thats great news Stretch!
All covered?

He said mercury didnt question their findings and was sending the parts today so I assume so. I think there is a $25 deductible, but I'll gladly pay $25 as I'm sure the ECM is $2,000.

Awesome!