2007 Mercury Optimax 225 issues

[mdennigmann]

Im having an issue with my 2007 optimax 225, any help would be appreciated. The motor starts and idles fine, no alarms or anything. When I give it throttle to get up on plane it doesn't want to rev up to get on plane. Just kind of plows for about one minute before it sloooooowly creeps up on pad. Once its on pad it finally increases rpms and runs fine. It also doesn't have the top end it normally does, about 10 mph slower. Like i said no alarms or anything out of the ordinary, it sounds just fine just no power trying to get on pad. Seems like its probably a fuel issue but not sure. Filled it up with premium and put fuel system cleaner and always use stabil in it. Also replaced the fuel filter. Any ideas what could be going on?

[EuropeanAM]

Moving your thread to the 3L Forum (correct location for this engine).

Please take a moment and review the Announcements at the top of that forum, and update your thread with the Required Info (serial number). Thanks!

[Jtreed99]

Look at plugs, if one is fouled look at t-stats. Could very well be fuel but sounds an awful lot like it’s running on 5 cylinders due to plug/coil/wire issue. I would check there first. That motor doesn’t need premium fuel.

[EuropeanAM]

I am having a similar issue, (most likely prop on my part though). quick question however, any insight on how to diagnose coil issues?

Please take a moment to review the Announcements at the top of the Forum. One engine per thread ONLY so as to prevent any confusion with the original poster's engine (and/or post hijacking). Open your own separate thread, and be sure to provide your engine's serial number.

[JOE54]

timming light will work

[EuropeanAM]

Simply clip the inductive pickup lead onto each plug wire, one at a time while watching for a steady flashing pattern.

Keep in mind that no pattern or an erratic pattern could be caused by a number of items (including coil, wire, plug, harness to the coil, driving signals, etc).

[mdennigmann]

Changed out the plugs, has been running much better but still not perfect. When i pulled the plugs one looked much worse than the other. How do I check the t stats?

[JOE54]

infared temp gun on housing or pan hot water and thread & thermometer, scan tools

[mdennigmann]

Forgot I posted about this but I thought I would give an update to what the issue ended up being. The issues were caused by bad reed valves. Each block had at least one petal that was broken. Was a little more costly fix than I had hoped but it is running like a top now! Mechanic said that it can be caused by the engine heating up and cooling down rapidly, so like when you fish a spot for a short time, make a run and shut it down quickly to start fishing again. There was no evidence of any damage from the stainless petals going thru the motor and he also could not find any pieces so they must've went all the way thru it. So hopefully no damage.

[EuropeanAM]

Hopefully you went back with an Epoxy-Fiber reed (such as the TDR Reeds).