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Mercury 800 no crank problem

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Belac0711

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Hello all. I've got a 1971 (I'm pretty sure it is anyways) Mercury 800 2 stroker. When we got it (used attached to a pontoon) the motor started and ran fine, with the exception of a small rough spot in the throttle between about 1/4-1/2 throttle. Well, in short, we got busy and the boat sat for a couple years without being used. It was winterized. Now, when I turn the key, I get a solid solenoid click, but nothing else. My battery is less than a year old and the connections are good. The engine rotates by hand, and I just replaced the engine wire harness (that goes from the outside of the engine case to the battery and the remote controls). Could my starter have pooped the bed during those couple years just sitting there? Anything else I can check before sending this thing off to the shop?

Thanks in advance. It's my experience that forums like this can be a wealth of information and good people.

Christian
 
A poor ground connection at the battery will give you the same symptoms as as a dud solenoid,so as johnnygjr says making sure your terminals are clean and tight.
I saw your post on the other guys thread,as you changed the control harness,check the engine side as well as the wiring on Mercs of this age was pure crap.
 
I have a 1971 80 hp 4 cylinder 2 strok merc also. Wiring on distributor and stator got so bad, insulation fell off, that it is setting in the shed now, just quit. If your battery has set a while it might have died. You need to check the voltage at the battery between the posts. Look for better than 12 volts. If less than 12, fix that first. If done, let everyone here know, we will be happy for you. Else, next thing as recommended above, use jumper cables - negative post hooked to ground of the started, then touch positive to starter + terminal. It is gonna spark, make sure you don't start a fire, and don't do this a lot, you will ruin the threads on that terminal. The starter should try to turn over. If it doesn't make sure you got good connections with the jumper cables, if you do then the starter probably has problems. A real long shot in that case, turn the starter by hand a little. a quarter turn will do it, trying to get the internals of the starter off where they been sitting for so long in case it corroded. Then try it with jumpers again. Best of luck.
 
Thanks for your guy's input. I may not get to look at it again for a couple days due to work, but when I do, I'll update. Appreciate the help!
 
Well, I had a few minutes today, so I dinked around for a few minutes. I checked and cleaned all of the connections and jumped the starter directly from a known good battery and across the starter solenoid. Still no rotation on the starter motor. The starter motor drive shaft is moving slightly laterally when power is applied, but there doesn't appear to be any effort to turn the shaft. Unfortunately, I ran out of time after that. Next step I think, is to pull the starter motor and go from there.
 
Have you tried lubricating the pinion gear on starter? Tapping on starter while trying to crank her over, Physically turn the gear with key off as was suggested earlier?
 
Yeah, I've tried all that. The gear is free, but it doesn't feel like the shaft on the starter motor is. I attempted to pull the starter motor to get a better look at it and learned that it is a giant pain in the ding dong to get out. I'm thinking this may be a job for somebody who knows what they are doing and charges for their time...
 
Belac0711 said:
I'm thinking this may be a job for somebody who knows what they are doing and charges for their time...
Click to expand...
Nah,a manual,Seloc $30,will do,a bit of time and patience,some twisted spanners,wrenches to you in the 'States and baby hands with the strength of Hercules.:D Oh,remove the front cowl support,easier to access the nuts.It's a PIA to get at the two 1/2" bolts,guaranteed skinned hands.
 
Yes, motor is free. It's gotta be electrical somewhere, just gotta find out for sure where it is. I haven't had much time over the last few days, but when I get to it, I'll update
 
It was more of a love tap if anything. Wouldn't ever bash on it. But, I believe it is either dead anyways or possibly even froze up. So, I doubt a few taps are going to mess it up any more that it already is.
 
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