1985 Merc 50HP with PTT

[BWR1953]

Hi all!

A year ago I acquired a donor boat for my Starcraft Kingfisher project and that donor has a 1985 Mercury 50HP engine with PTT.

I'm finally at a point where I'm ready to take the engine off the donor and get things rolling toward mounting it on my KF. First thing is to get it off the donor and I'm having trouble!

I reviewed hours and hours of YouTube videos and read many threads on various forums. And I can't find anything that gives me step by step instructions on how to disconnect the throttle and shift cables. Arghh! :mmph:

I disconnected the steering cable and have it ready to remove. I've pulled the battery cables out. I've fully loosened the clamp bolts on top and removed the upper mounting bolts. I can't reach the lower mounting bolts myself, so will have my boy pull those out later.

But I can't figure out how to get the shift/throttle cables loose and ready for removal. :facepalm:

A little help please! :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

More pix this morning.










The cables come through the grommet, then through these connectors. I can manipulate the levers and compress the springs and the cables will be released from the connectors at this point. But not fully released from the rest.



Maybe if I unscrew that coupler at the back right side of the pic, the shift cable will release?


I'm still not sure how to release the throttle control. :noidea:

 

[GA_Boater]

Can't see the pics in the 2nd post, but here goes.

In the pic below, push the arm with the spring toward the barrel and rotate the arm to the front. The arm has a "tee" that fits through a slot in the cable barrel. I think I see the "tee" on the bottom of the barrel.

 

[GA_Boater]

The arm is #20 and #21. There is an arm for each cable and it will only turn one way after pushing the arm so the cross pin is visible.

 

[BWR1953]

The arm is #20 and #21. There is an arm for each cable and it will only turn one way after pushing the arm so the cross pin is visible.

Yep, I can get those loose no problemo, but they're at the front of the motor and I'm not sure about what to do once those are loose. Those connectors are only half the issue.

I don't want to undo something that shouldn't be undone and then not be able to get it back together. Not that I've ever done such a thing. :facepalm: :lol:

 

[GA_Boater]

Ya gotta disconnect the ends of the cables from the throttle and shift arms. After the ends are loose, pull the cable through the slit grommet. One screw for the shift cable and one on the throttle arm.

#13 and only undo the screw enough to lift clamp #12 to allow the cable end to be removed. Don't drop the screw - I have experience. :doh:





The throttle arm may need to have the big pivot bolt #21 removed to move arm up to get to the cable screw. Screw #17 and clamp #16 is similar the shift cable.

 

[BWR1953]

Looks like parts #16 and #17 are buried in the lower part of the cowl. :blue:
And yeah, I noticed that "hole" trap if I dropped a screw. I was thinking I'd stuff a rag down in there just in case.

 

[BWR1953]

So if I remove bolt #21, will that entire assembly fly apart under spring pressure or tension?

 

[racerone]

??---You do not touch bolt # 21 to disconnect the throttle cable !---Screw # 17 is the one to loosen a bit.

 

[GA_Boater]

So if I remove bolt #21, will that entire assembly fly apart under spring pressure or tension?

That I don't know.

 

[BWR1953]

??---You do not touch bolt # 21 to disconnect the throttle cable !---Screw # 17 is the one to loosen a bit.

Screw #17 is buried inside the cowl and I can't reach it. See pix in my post #7 above. The red X shows about where it's located and the other pic shows it down inside. Can't get to it. Unless I'm missing something?

That I don't know.

I'm afeared! :hopelessness: :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Boo yah! Got 'em out!

The shift cable was simple; loosen the screw then lift it up and pull it out. I bent up a piece of piano wire to lift if off the connector.

The throttle cable connector was sly... it's not actually holding the cable down with a lot of pressure and the screw doesn't need to be loosened in order to get the connector off. But it is instead just holding the cable in place with sidewise spring type pressure. When examining the connector with a screwdriver, I realized that I could just pry it sideways very easily and the cable just popped right off.

Now to figure out how to get the PTT hoses off without using a chainsaw to cut the boat up! :lol:

 

[racerone]

?---Not sure what level of experience you have , but you carefully remove the hoses at the pump.---Then remove the screws that holds the block with the hoses on the boat.----Some oil will leak out but that is not a pronlem.

 

[BWR1953]

?---Not sure what level of experience you have , but you carefully remove the hoses at the pump.---Then remove the screws that holds the block with the hoses on the boat.----Some oil will leak out but that is not a pronlem.

I'm 63, old and beat up, so physically limited a bit. But the brain still works. I'm a retired NASA systems engineer.

I've owned 13 boats over the years, including the 3 I now have.

Back in the 80s when I was into cars, I worked on mine for fun and actually rebuilt a smokin' hot 351W engine in my living room.

But with outboards, I have very limited experience other than operation. Just routine maintenance, etc. so I'm learning as I go along with this one.

After I get this motor dismounted from the donor boat I'll be mounting it onto my Kingfisher (in my sig) and replacing the water pump impeller and whatnot. So I'll be having more questions as I proceed.

Do I have to bleed or drain the PTT system before disconnecting the hoses?

 

[BWR1953]

Got the pump dismounted. Lotsa messy wiring there! A buddy has some line wrenches that I can borrow to get the lines off. Will get with him tomorrow.

 

[BWR1953]

Guys, I've read that the trim pump needs to be mounted inline with the engine. Is there a minimum distance requirement?

In the donor boat the pump is 21 inches from the front of the engine. Mounting the pump that far forward in my Kingfisher will cause issues for me since the boat is an open planform, not enclosed like the donor boat. I really don't want to have to build an enclosure cutting off much of the aft end of the boat if I don't have to.

Can I mount the pump much closer to the engine, like 6 or 8 inches away?

 

[GA_Boater]

Guys, I've read that the trim pump needs to be mounted inline with the engine.

The same basic trim pump is used for Mercruisers and it's always mounted to one side. No worries about inline or offline.

Stuff the pump where it fits best. It's hydraulic and after the lines and the rest are bled, it doesn't care.

 

[BWR1953]

Duh. I just reread the manual and the inline part was for the splash well inlet cover. My bad. Silly me. Doh. :facepalm:

It didn't sound right that a hydraulic pump needed to be lined up a certain way. P1 is P1 after all.

So when the time comes, I'll stick the pump in a corner somewhere out of the way.

I got the line wrenches and explained to my bud what I was doing and his reply was "Why?" and he just looked at me.

I understood exactly what he meant...

Tomorrow... the Sawz All!! :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Got the motor cables all disconnected and the outboard is now ready to be lifted off the transom!

Used the sawzall and left all the trim pump connections hooked up to the pump. Had to use the sawzall to get some of the cables out since they were stuck under stuff below deck. But they're out now.

Making progress and hope to get the motor off the boat in the next few days. Have other stuff competing for my time right now.