1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with throttle

whiteguitars

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Apr 25, 2011
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Won't start in Nuetral, only starts with throttle open. Mercury 50hp 1970 outboard

Hi, I've just purchased a 1970 M.F.G Gypsy 14' TriHull. Nice Bright Orange boat. Problem is that the 50hp Mercury will only start with the Throttle open. Won't start in Nuetral. Another odd thing is that the outboard, when shut off, will only lift up to stow position when the throttle is open, not in nuetral. This seems backwords to me. Should have seen me trying to hold onto the dock while starting this baby up at full throttle. It doesn't work.

I'm new to boating in general, but good with most mechanical issues, so hoping to fix this myself. Any guidance?

Is this a mis-wired switch in the throttle box? a mis-attached cable?

Thanks,
Andrew
 
M

Maxz695

Guest
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

Have you put this in neutral after starting the engine and it still ran ok? was the neutral on the right location on the throttle?. before we blame the throttle and or neutral switch lets make sure the cable adjustment is correct
 

Alumarine

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Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,684
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

When you say "Will only start with the throttle open" do you mean it will only start when the throttle is open and also in gear?
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,036
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

Normal behavior from the Merc motor lock down is locked in reverse and neutral, released in forward. Sounds like yous is working correctly.

Do you have a cold start lever on the MerControl? Most do. Lift it all the way, motor in neutral for coldstarting. Are you holding the choke button while cold cranking? You should be.
 

whiteguitars

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Apr 25, 2011
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Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

Wow, thanks for all the help. I hope I can narrow this down.

I guess its good that the lock down is functioning correctly, so lets rule that out as a symptom.

In Response to Marc, I honestly did not know that there was a throttle and something to engage the trans into gear. I saw there are two levers, one seems to clearly be the throttle, its larger, and closer to the interior of the boat. The smaller lever is to engage the transmission into gear???

To Respond to maxz695, If I recall correctly, the motor will not keep running when putting back into nuetral. Also, as I recall, it will stop when trying to go from forward to reverse.

Thanks for the help all. I could probably take to a mechanic, and just have him take care of it, but I want to have a good idea of how this baby works before I get on the water.

Andrew

Andrew

I guess it sounds like I need a full lessson in starting this boat. Clearly new to this world.
 

merc850

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Jul 7, 2010
Messages
2,022
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

Why don't you post pictures of the control and motor and someone can explain the operation of the control.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,036
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

Gee, I thought a 1970 motor would have the single lever control. Since you have two levers, advancing the throttle for starting is OK. Do you have a working choke?
 
M

Maxz695

Guest
Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

I,m Guessing( Not a good thing to do here sometimes on the forum) But it appears to be in the throttle. I do not know what your throttle looks like. You have stated that it is a dual control throttle I have a single lever throttle with no saftey neutral switch in it. This is OK as long as your aware that this could start in fowards and reverse. It is dangerous if you forget this and start it in full throttle and in gear. Now the shifter side of the throttle has the saftey neutral switch that will only allow your engine to start in neutral. (This being the problem starting in forwards and dying in neutral. either the mechanisim that recognizes the shifter possition has moved or the point that triggers this has moved. being it seems to have shifted from the neutral possition to the foward possition I would think that the switch is the one that moved. Either the bolts corroded off. the metal deteriorated or something to this has occured and taking the throttle apart would be the next logical step in determining if this is in fact the case. You can discnnect the neutral sftey start switch but I would not recommend this. Do this at your own risk.I suggest finding the bad part and replacing with the exact same thing that is bad with a new one or one that is in decent condition. Hope this helped some almost forgot if you do disconnect the saftey neutral swith you will have to connect the feed in to the feed out to get the engine to start
 

berge472

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Aug 12, 2011
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Re: 1970 Mercury 50hp wont start in Nuetral. Throttle control? Will start with thro

i could be wrong but i believe the larger lever (more interior to the boat) is the throttle/shifter. when pushed foward or back it engages foward or reverse and then begins throttling. the smaller lever on the outside is a cold start lever, which allows oyu to give the engine gas without putting it in gear.
 
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