Mercury force 70hp

[Jimmyzzz023]

I picked up a boat with a mercury force 70 hp outboard,
Trying to see if it will run or at least turn over.
I put cables to the starter and after a few free spinning times it finally went up to the flywheel and turned it really slow and some wires on the side started to smoke, I stopped this immediately.
Can anyone please tell me why the wires are starting to burn and what is the issue with the starter?
I did remove all connections from starter and solenoid and cleaned them really good

 

[pnwboat]

Wires started to smoke either because there is too much current flowing though them, or a corroded connection. Might be the starter drawing too much current, or a bad cable. Can you grab the flywheel and turn the motor over by hand relatively easy? If not, the motor may be partially seized. Sometimes the lower unit will have a bearing that is bad causing excessive resistance. You have to remove the lower unit to see if it makes any difference.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Wires burning? hooked up wrong?
​Remove plugs and see if the motor turns over then?
​If it has low compression on 1 cylinder then it can make the starter work harder and cause the wires to overheat.
​Take it apart and see if it's clogged or corroded?
Then take the lower off and see if that makes a difference.

​Jumper cables won't handle the current.
You need the right equipment.