weird sounding engine?

[vandamit]

posted this in the tracker forum but wanted to try here also since alot more guys have that engine on their tins as well.

Quick background, I changed the spark plugs this weekend on my 60hp Mercury 4 stroke. This is something I've never done. I got the champion plugs from Orilleys. I had never gaped plugs before so they did it in the store for me. This was a fairly easy change, it took me less than 15 minutes to change them all. When I went to the lake last night for the first time I notice when the boat is in neutral it has a different sound to it that it usually does now? When i drop it in gear it sounds fine though and seems to run more responsive and and overall I thought it ran fantastic but when you put it back in neutral it sounds weird to me. I attached a video we shot. Any ideas what I might of done wrong if anything? I did pull the spark plug wires off with some pliers but i don't think that would have caused any issue for noise? It's kind of that click click click sound you hear.

[Highcentered]

What plugs did your motor come with from the factory? The 60 could be different but my 75 4-stroke came with NGK. And are you sure they were gapped correctly?

[vandamit]

Mine are champion and I had Orileys gap them for me at the store.

[repdept]

Sounds like something is loose ( prop ???)

[Great Scott]

Prop chatter is what I hear, and I'm very
hard of hearing. LDS

[vandamit]

Never heard of prop chatter so I looked it up.. Could be? I had the lower unit worked on earlier this year

[NewJay]

It sounds like your lower unit is on its way out. Mine sounded similar to that and it was the lower unit. It’ll get worst as you use it then it’ll start to sound like a rod knock.

[vandamit]

I just had the lower unit worked on this spring. And it runs like a top when it's not in neutral. I mean it runs really nice!

[richg99]

You may want to check the lower unit's fluids.

[vandamit]

I put the old plugs back in and took it back out last night and it's still doing it, so it's not the plugs. I'm guessing it might be prop chatter which was suggested to me on another thread. I had some lower unit stuff done (seals, oil, water pump etc) earlier this year and I hear it's common to get prop chatter after doing that. I have the reflex hub in my prop, is it possible for them to wear out? Lower end unit fluids are fine, just checked last week and they are fresh just replaced in March.

[Alumicraft145]

Noise only in neutral?? Reinstall prop and tighten. Take cover off in neutral. Look for loose gearshift connection. Check steering connection. I have had all these problems in the past.

[vandamit]

Noise only in neutral?? Reinstall prop and tighten. Take cover off in neutral. Look for loose gearshift connection. Check steering connection. I have had all these problems in the past.

yes it's only in neutral and goes away as soon as it is in gear. I took the prop off and tightened last night and it still made the noise.

[vandamit]

20200708_122632.jpg I did find a cut in a spark plug boot that i caused. would this effect anything though?

[Casslaw]

20200708_122632.jpg I did find a cut in a spark plug boot that i caused. would this effect anything though?

A cracked boot can cause the ignition to not fire properly, it gives the electricity another way to escape. You can run the motor at night with the cowl off to see. If you see a blue spark coming from that wire then it’s a problem but not the noise in the video.

[texoma]

Check your shift adjustment. Could be trying to catch a gear with clutch. Put in neutral remove shift cable and make for sure the cable end slides on the shift slider freely. Good luck

[quikcarl61]

We had a 50hp bigfoot, it did this after a impeller change. I talked with my mechanic about it and he said they all do it, run it and dont worry about it.

[Skeeterbait]

You have a Mercury Flo-Torq II prop hub installed? They are notorious for prop chatter at idle. Try a Flo-Torq III hub, they are designed to reduce the chatter. They will also reduce the clunk when you drop it into gear. Do not overtighten any hub to try to stop the chatter. 50 ft-lbs only.

[vandamit]

I took a look today at the "new" plugs I had put in the boat and I only rain them 5 minutes or so but if you look at the one in circled in red it doesn't look like the others. Could be an issue, maybe again with the spark plug wires or something else. May not be anything, i'm racking my brain trying to figure it out though. plugs.jpg

Skeeterbait I have the reflex hub in there.
quikcarl I did just have the impeller changed not very long ago

[vandamit]

here are the old plugs. Anything look weird about them?old plugs.jpg

[texoma]

The one on the left is running a little oily. But do not see any with aluminum stuck to them. And oily for a fourstroke.