1970 40hp 400 series merc prop slip

"I have a friend that wants me

"I have a friend that wants me to have a look at his merc 40 hp 400 series. I believe it is a 1970, he gave me two sets of numbers 1427-3264 and 2880347. Motor is black with burgundy stripe around cover. Last year the last time they tried to use it the boat just wouldn't move, the engine would rev right up and a lot of turbulance behind the boat but no go. I asked him to get it running (with water attached) before I came down to see it, and now it has no spark. He shifted into gear with engine stopped and turned the prop by hand and the compression really holds back one way in forward and the other way in reverse. I'm just worndering if this is a waste of time to try and fix these 2 problems or look for another motor. Any common problems or ignition test/spec info would be very helpfull. It would be a shame to scrap a motor that worked so great most of last year. Thank you."

"it is a 1970, Known for bad w

"it is a 1970, Known for bad wiring, this page has toubleshooting and dva charts(ign).
http://cdielectronics.com/Downloads/tabid/55/language/en-US/Default.aspx"

"You could be getting into a r

"You could be getting into a rat's nest of issues.

No, the motor isn't ancient, but it isn't yours either.

It's one thing to play around with an almost 40 year old "project" that you pick at in your garage at your leasure, it's another if you are trying to get it going for someone else, especially if it's something they are looking to use in the very near future.

Some parts, should you require them, will be downright difficult to come accross, and expensive if you do find them.

If he is a really good friend I might be inclined to fiddle with it for a couple hours and see if you can't get her running.

Otherwise, I would politely walk away from it unless he wanted to donate the motor to you to work on at your own pace with no "return date" set.

If you took this motor to a shop they would most likely quote a seemingly outrageous price if they would work on it all - that would be the experience telling them that this could potentially gobble up many many hours of troubleshooting and repairs."