2002 Mercury 125 ELPTO WOT issue

[Preston398]

2002 125 ELPTO S/N: 0T462030

Having an issue where at wide open throttle my butterflies are slightly off. #2 butterfly is open perfectly flat. #1 looks like 90-95% open. The other two carbs seem close to flat.

I have done the link and sync by the book 2+ times and everything is running great except this issue at wide open throttle. You can hear something is off when I open it up all the way since it wont really clear out and run. up to about 4k RPMs everything is fine.

I have attached pictures of the throttle link rod that links all the carbs together and this is what I have traced the issue back to since you can see the rod flexed at WOT only.
This link rod is brand new as I thought it might be the issue and replaced it.
Any other ideas on what to check or what could be causing this?

[JOE54]

will plate open 100 % if unhooked from link,think you have other problem though

[straffordengineer]

what kind of problem are you having with WOT?

[Preston398]

will plate open 100 % if unhooked from link,think you have other problem though

Yes it does open fully flat, or a little past actually until it hits butterfly stop.

what kind of problem are you having with WOT?

The boat used to run 40-45mph at about 5200ish rpm. I discovered the linkage was all out of wack and the butterflies would open past WOT, i.e. past 90 degrees. I went through and re-did the link and sync and got the idle and timing back to the correct factory settings and the boat would only run about 33-35 at 4700-4800 and it sounded kinda rough after about 4400 RPMS. that's how I discovered the #1 carb not opening fully and the link rod bending slightly.
Not sure how else to describe the issue.

[JOE54]

what kind of problem are you having with WOT?

+1

[straffordengineer]

The only reason that would cause the linkage rod to flex is the carb is binding up and not rotating. You indicated that the carb will open 100% if you open it manually. Therefore, I don't think you have a linkage issue unless you are not doing the link-n-sync correctly. A carb that opens 90 to 95% is essentially at WOT anyway. There is not much change from 90% to 100%. I think something else is causing your WOT problem.