TOPIC: 50hp Mariner sputters & dies when put in gear

A friend called and asked what might cause their 50hp Mariner to stall when put in gear. He said it idles fine and had the carbs rebuilt at a shop.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Gene

Gene, I was having this problem with my old merc 65, even after I went through the carbs. Some nice folks on this forum suggested the carb idle mixture was a bit lean and the cure was to adjust the idle mixture with the motor idling in gear, in the water. You could do this in a test tank with the correct test wheel (prop) or do what I did, have a helper operate the boat while I went back and adjusted the mixture screws. Worked great and solved the problem. Just make sure your helper isn't going to forget what's going on and decide to give it some throttle during the procedure! Helper's job is just to steer the boat and restart the motor if it stalls during the procedure. Might want to begin by backing out each mixture screw by 1/2 or 1 turn before setting out.
Wearing a life jacket might be a good idea too.

Hi Norm,
Thanks for the quick reply. I will pass on this info and let you know the outcome.
Thanks again, Gene

after that you can increase the idle to 750 rpm's in gear if needed

Thanks Dave,
I do not know the Mariners are they multi carb? Is there a single idle stop in the linkage to adjust all carbs to idle?
Thanks for the help guys, Gene

if they are 4 cyl then there is a idle stop for both in the linkage.

OK thanks Dave