Merc 135 problems

Springling

Springling

Member
A couple friends and I just bought a 19ft trophy with a 2001 Merc 135 efi saltwater motor on the back. We have taken it out about 8 times in the last 3-4 months. Yesterday it started up fine, we let it warm up for close to 10 mins then took off. As we were accelerating we got up to 1800 rpms and a long beep came out of the dash and the boat wouldn't allow us to go any faster. We then dropped it back to neutral them tried again and there was no problem. We cruised at about 3500 rpms, went and dropped a couple traps then started trolling for a few hours. As we picked our rods and went to get our traps a few hours later we had no problem or warning coming from the boat as we got up to plane. Then after slowing down and accelerating a few times, it started restricting our rpms again so we trolled back to the launch and put her back on the trailer and took it home. Anyone have an idea what it could be or should we take it to a merc dealer? The boat came with a full tank of gas which we haven't fully gone through yet. We did put 40l in it around 1.5 months ago. Could it be bad gas? The engine didn't feel hot... There did seem to be a little more exhaust coming out of the engine then usual.
Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions
Shaun MCB
 
Does the engine have warning lights ? was it still spitting water from the telltale ?
could be an overheat causing the engine to go into "limp mode"
 
limp home mode, prolly water in your separator. replace separator do not try to tip it to empty it.. drain it from the bottom if you can,, see if you caught water in it.. if the water has got all the way to your high pressure pump drain that also..facing front , bottom right corner, large brass nut with screwdriver slot in it.. loosen off. tilt motor to drain.. INSTALL INLINE SEPARATOR!!
 
Thanks trophy wife! Water separator was on the to do list but clearly we haven't done it yet we will give that a try.
 
Like Trophywife mentioned. Is there a separate in line RACOR or other brand of fuel filter on the boat? If not. it would be highly recommended to install one.
 
My Merc 50 efi did that when I drove through a kelpy/weedy tide line once. Partially blocked the intake, then ran fine again after a bit.
 
r.s craven said:
Does the engine have warning lights ? was it still spitting water from the telltale ?
could be an overheat causing the engine to go into "limp mode"
Click to expand...

The engine doesn't have warning lights. It was still spitting water. I read up that it might be an over hearing issue. The only reason why I figured it wouldn't be that is we only had it on idle for a little under ten minutes then as we took off from the dock the "limp mode" warning noise came on.
 
Also we just installed a depth sounder just before we went out yesterday. Any chance it could have something to do with that?
 
have a 225 opti--1st time alarm went it was water in the[ canister/spin on] filter on engine--my fault for not servicing racor
2nd time was an injector problem--not cheap--your best bet is take it to merc & get them to hook her up--no guessing that way.
 
Springling said:
The engine doesn't have warning lights. It was still spitting water. I read up that it might be an over hearing issue. The only reason why I figured it wouldn't be that is we only had it on idle for a little under ten minutes then as we took off from the dock the "limp mode" warning noise came on.
Click to expand...

Unusual to be an over heat issue if the water pump is still working fine.
not impossible though, the cooling passages may be plugged up with salt, also check thermostat to make sure
it's not corroded shut.
 
It could be one of the following
a) loose oil filler cap
b) clogged filter screen inside main oil tank
c)loose oil filler cap inside cowling
d) defective oil sensor inside oil tank under cowling
e)low oil in oil tank under cowling
f) defective temp sender
I had that problem with my 225 merc would only go off after longer than 20 min trips in the end it was defective temp sender Smart guages would be a good investment
 
99 Merc 135 2 stroke. I had a small almost invisible crack on the plastic cap where the oil is injected at the block. Perfectly fine at troll around 3200 RPM beeper in the dash would go off. See if you have any oil around base of block.
 
Over heating IMHO. Next time take the hood off and feel the block
at the rear of the engine, it should just be warm, not hot!
Good luck. ............BB
 
Try reading this stuff It may help I know how frusrating this problem was The Merc guys over a season changed the impeller,the warning horn,the altenator (their computer said defective) and as i said it turned out to be one of the temp sensors Many many $ later The tell tale was always weak even after the new water pump After a lot of research and with what the guys had done there wasn't anything left I just tried the sensor out of desperation and presto
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/002658.html
 
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