Mercury is among the USA’s most widely used brands of reliable outboard motors, and it offers many alternatives, from little boats to larger ones.
However, how will you be able to enjoy these motors and ride your boat if they are simply malfunctioning? Let’s find out more about this!
Mercury 4 Stroke EFI Fuel Pump Symptoms
1. Loss Of Power
If your Mercury 4 Stroke EFI fuel pump fails, your engine may not even sputter, but you will occasionally lose power.
For example, consider the situation when you ascend abrupt water waves in your boat and suddenly lose power.
Of course, this indicates that the fuel pump is not providing enough gasoline to the engine and that it cannot withstand the climb’s strain.
2. Acceleration Trouble
Your fuel pump may malfunction if you notice that your boat frequently lacks power whenever you attempt to accelerate from a stall.
Of course, accelerating uses more fuel, which puts additional strain on your fuel pump.
Therefore, your engine may run out of gasoline as it attempts to accelerate if your pump deteriorates and cannot keep up with the increasing demand.
Also, you might need to check your pump if your boat seems ready to stall when you try to accelerate from a stop.
3. Stalling Issue
When your Mercury 4 Stroke EFI keeps stalling during regular fishing trips, it’s not a good sign, even though there may be a slight performance difference under load.
As a result, you should address this problem right away. So, inspect the fuel pump valves. Then, swap out each of the unit’s filters after that.
If you’re lucky, you have already resolved the issue and won’t need to purchase replacement parts; however, you’ll need to buy a new fuel pump if you still have the same problem.
4. Engine Misfires
Having dirty fuel injectors might result in your boat’s engine misfiring. That said, the motor seems to be sputtering due to this issue, which causes the boat to vibrate.
The right balance between the air and fuel reaching the engine might be upset by a fuel injector issue, resulting in such misfires.
5. Excessive Idling
Does your boat sputter and shake when you’re at a slow pace? It’s not acting like a charging horse. Instead, it’s warning you that the fuel injectors could be soiled.
But even when the accelerator is down, “rough idling” is typically identified by fluctuating revolutions per minute (RPMs).
Frequently, rough idling is followed by engine stalling, characterized by a sharp drop in RPMs and an audible noise that seems like running out of gas on rough water.
Therefore, one of the engine issues that can cause your Mercury 4 Stroke engine stalling and rough idling is dirty fuel injectors.
With that, it’s best to check your overall fuel system and try to clean the EFI.
6. Gas Mileage
Your Mercury 4 Stroke fuel injectors play a significant role in achieving the type of gas economy the manufacturers advertise.
Therefore, poor gas mileage may indicate a problem with your EFI, even if many engine problems make you visit the gas station more frequently.
7. RMP Needle Fluctuates
Usually, you have control over what the dash gauges in your boat do.
For example, the gas gauge changes from “F” to “E” as you drive a lot, and the speedometer changes from “0” to “60” when you accelerate.
But why is EFI becoming dirty? They may cause the tachometer’s needle, which indicates the outboard’s RPM, to move erratically.
As a result, when your boat isn’t changing gears, you could observe the hand move on its own, showing variations in RPM.
8. Outboard Engine Will Not Start
Gas is delivered to suitable cylinders using EFI, and your engine won’t acquire the essential mix of air and fuel if gas isn’t completed.
Also, if the air-to-fuel ratio is wrong, your motor cannot produce combustion.
Although it happens seldom, fuel injector problems can cause engine failure, which makes it impossible for your engine to start.
Of course, it’s also conceivable that you neglected to put petrol in your boat, which would explain why it won’t start.
Nonetheless, running out of gas might result in problems with the fuel injectors.
9. Engine Overheating
Another sign of a failing fuel pump is an overheated engine.
That said, an unreliable fuel pump might overheat and provide insufficient gasoline to the engine, leading it to run hot and shut off while traveling.
In this case, your Mercury 4 Stroke EFI will overheat and shut down; your boat can restart, only to repeat the process 30 minutes later. This situation is a typical indicator of a faulty fuel pump.
To know more, you can also read our posts on Mercury Outboard fuel pump symptoms, Subaru fuel pump symptoms, and Range Rover fuel pump symptoms.
Conclusion
The worst time to deal with mechanical issues is before you go out on the water. So, it’s crucial to eliminate any failure from happening in the first place to avoid headaches.
Knowing all the symptoms in this post is a big help; stalling, overheating engines, misfires, and excessive idling are all crucial symptoms that a Mercury 4 Stroke EFI owner must know.