Norseman3971
Recruit
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2010
- Messages
- 2
Ok. Just got a boat so I can take kids fishing and go crabbing in Puget Sound in Washington..
The motor is a 1978 Mercury 50 horse 500 with a thunderbolt ignition. At last that is what I can figure out.
At some point the prior ower of the engine put a jet drive on the lower part of the motor. Seems to work well.
The problem. The seller said you had to hold (tied to steering/throttle arm) the shifter forward otherwise it would jump to neutral. I went out and even with it pulled all the way forward it would spontanously jump there... Brought it home. Seems to be a fair amount of play in the linkage system and the hole where the shaft goes down to the lower unit. I think I may have to get a bushing or something into the hole to tighten it up.
Problem 2: The first few times I went full throttle it would rev up to maybe 2/3's power and the bog down a bit. I think I may have a timing issue (retard or advance it). Or maybe a richness issue. I played with the choke when doing this and it only made it worse and did not go back to where it should be. Also the longer I ran it the less it wanted to open up. Didn't even get 1/2 way up on the rev's. Wondering if I need to change the water pump/impeller to move water through the engine.
Engine starts fine with no choking required, with maybe a 1/2 second press of the starter switch. Temps are around 60 -65 F. Water temp is probably the same or slightly cooler.
Last question for this. I have no clue if it is a 1978 Merc. Where do I find the Serial number to verify.
I am pretty good mechanically so most work, even some metal work I can do. 20 years of working airplanes and growing up on a farm helps out the cause... But marine engines are a little new for me so any help is appreicated.
Sorry for the long post. Just looking for good info and want to give you all the pieces of the puzzle to best assist me.
Alright. took the boat out a second time. I bungee corded the shift lever to the steering arm. Only one time did it ever jump out of gear.
As I applied the throttle it would take off and then the jet pump almost seems to cavatate. I just loose propulsion for the most part. The engine does rev up and then it backs down like the timing isn't right. I might get maybe.. just maybe 5-10 mph out of the thing with a 16ft smoker craft boat with just myself 220lbs and my 60 lb son in it. So besides the motor and gas. It has less than 300 pounds of weight in the boat. I'm sorry. But the boat claims the largest motor to put on it is a 40 horse. I have a 50 with a jet drive. I should be able to get up on a plane and skim across the water with the thing. I can only do max 10 mph. Please.....
I have had this posted here for 24 hours and no replies. Guess this web site is dead and just checked infrequently...
The motor is a 1978 Mercury 50 horse 500 with a thunderbolt ignition. At last that is what I can figure out.
At some point the prior ower of the engine put a jet drive on the lower part of the motor. Seems to work well.
The problem. The seller said you had to hold (tied to steering/throttle arm) the shifter forward otherwise it would jump to neutral. I went out and even with it pulled all the way forward it would spontanously jump there... Brought it home. Seems to be a fair amount of play in the linkage system and the hole where the shaft goes down to the lower unit. I think I may have to get a bushing or something into the hole to tighten it up.
Problem 2: The first few times I went full throttle it would rev up to maybe 2/3's power and the bog down a bit. I think I may have a timing issue (retard or advance it). Or maybe a richness issue. I played with the choke when doing this and it only made it worse and did not go back to where it should be. Also the longer I ran it the less it wanted to open up. Didn't even get 1/2 way up on the rev's. Wondering if I need to change the water pump/impeller to move water through the engine.
Engine starts fine with no choking required, with maybe a 1/2 second press of the starter switch. Temps are around 60 -65 F. Water temp is probably the same or slightly cooler.
Last question for this. I have no clue if it is a 1978 Merc. Where do I find the Serial number to verify.
I am pretty good mechanically so most work, even some metal work I can do. 20 years of working airplanes and growing up on a farm helps out the cause... But marine engines are a little new for me so any help is appreicated.
Sorry for the long post. Just looking for good info and want to give you all the pieces of the puzzle to best assist me.
Alright. took the boat out a second time. I bungee corded the shift lever to the steering arm. Only one time did it ever jump out of gear.
As I applied the throttle it would take off and then the jet pump almost seems to cavatate. I just loose propulsion for the most part. The engine does rev up and then it backs down like the timing isn't right. I might get maybe.. just maybe 5-10 mph out of the thing with a 16ft smoker craft boat with just myself 220lbs and my 60 lb son in it. So besides the motor and gas. It has less than 300 pounds of weight in the boat. I'm sorry. But the boat claims the largest motor to put on it is a 40 horse. I have a 50 with a jet drive. I should be able to get up on a plane and skim across the water with the thing. I can only do max 10 mph. Please.....
I have had this posted here for 24 hours and no replies. Guess this web site is dead and just checked infrequently...
