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-   -   96' Merc 454 hard starting (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/general-q/215529-96-merc-454-hard-starting.html)

blue thunder 08-26-2009 07:19 PM


Originally Posted by hamel01 (Post 2938081)
Purple Hornet - The choke is disconected right now as that was recommended to me by a few people sue to the fact that the engine is really never cold (70 degree's +-) and should not need the choke. It is a little easier to start with it off than when it was hooked up.

Do you have the choke wire tied open? If not it may be cooling and going closed when it should be pulled off by vacuum. Next time it won't start hot take of the breather and look at the choke plate to make sure it is wide open. If it is not you found the problem.

dogturd21 08-26-2009 09:59 PM


Originally Posted by blue thunder (Post 2940429)
Do you have the choke wire tied open? If not it may be cooling and going closed when it should be pulled off by vacuum. Next time it won't start hot take of the breather and look at the choke plate to make sure it is wide open. If it is not you found the problem.

Ditto- just disconnecting the wire is not enough, as the choke will tend to close on you and the engine will run poorly or not at all. Either connect the wire, or disconnect AND fasten the linkage back to full off. I did this once and I think the symptoms are that it runs ok at idle and up to about 1500-2000 rpm, and at high rpm it then stumbles / stalls as the choke plate closes up (this is from memory back to 2000 / 2001).

PURPLE HORNET 08-29-2009 10:35 AM


Originally Posted by dogturd21 (Post 2939575)
My experience is with the Edelbrock marine 750, and it was a pain to get the choke correct. Looking at the parts diagrams (this is from memory back a few years) it appears that the Webers and Edelbrock are mechanically similar. IIRC the carb line was sold to Weber way back when and thats why Webers started showing up in the carbed Merc engines.

In fact I really dislike the Edelbrock carb as it has been a real challenge to tune. Actually swapping jets and needles is easy, even on the water, but getting it performing correctly has been nearly impossible. I decided to just rebuild my original Quadrajet 795 and put that back on, and the engine is night and day differenct- better power and better fuel economy. Following the formulas indicates I need 730 cfm so I felt the Edelbrock would be sufficient. Obviously the Rocheter is far more complicated and harder to tune, but it seems to work better over the entire rpm range. That said, I prefer EFI overall.

The Edelbrock carb is the easiest carb in the world to adjust the choke on. But like any other carb the engine needs to be stone cold to do it and this may take awhile. For performance I do not recommend it but for a quick starting engine and smooth operation they are awesome for the money. One thing I will also say, if you buy a new one and it acts funny or has a bad stumble its the carb casting take it off and get another one no tuning in the world will fix it.

I am a Holley guy but if I want to sell something and want it to start fast and idle quick a Edelbrock hands down will be stuck on the engine. But then again none of my Holley's have a choke.


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