An ancient mariner
Recruit
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2011
- Messages
- 4
Hello!
I have enjoyed reading postings on this forum for several years, but am now a new member and humbly request your help. I have a classic 1971, 9.8 hp Mercury (Ser. # 3179898). It has been a labor of love to restore this motor both mechanically and cosmetically. Last week I was returning to the loading ramp after a wonderful day of fishing. Approaching the ramp, I began to throttle down from a WOT run . Suddenly there was resistance in the twist grip throttle handle and a snap. The twist grip could be rotated 360 degrees with no response. Had my kill switch not worked, I might have ended up in the parking lot. Scary!
Now the problem: I can see no simple way to remove and replace the broken throttle linkage. No online parts breakdown has been found, same for my SELOC manual. A friend, who is a Mercury repair manager, was also frustrated because his computer parts breakdown did not cover engines older than 1980. He suggested that we try to drill out the pin in the universal joint. That pin was stainless. How can I remove the offending part without first removing the power head or dropping the lower unit? It would be a shame to have to trash this engine because of a throttle linkage. Motor has 125 lbs of pressure top/bottom is perfectly timed and looks like new. Surely hope some of our experts can help An ancient mariner with this vintage headache.
I have enjoyed reading postings on this forum for several years, but am now a new member and humbly request your help. I have a classic 1971, 9.8 hp Mercury (Ser. # 3179898). It has been a labor of love to restore this motor both mechanically and cosmetically. Last week I was returning to the loading ramp after a wonderful day of fishing. Approaching the ramp, I began to throttle down from a WOT run . Suddenly there was resistance in the twist grip throttle handle and a snap. The twist grip could be rotated 360 degrees with no response. Had my kill switch not worked, I might have ended up in the parking lot. Scary!
Now the problem: I can see no simple way to remove and replace the broken throttle linkage. No online parts breakdown has been found, same for my SELOC manual. A friend, who is a Mercury repair manager, was also frustrated because his computer parts breakdown did not cover engines older than 1980. He suggested that we try to drill out the pin in the universal joint. That pin was stainless. How can I remove the offending part without first removing the power head or dropping the lower unit? It would be a shame to have to trash this engine because of a throttle linkage. Motor has 125 lbs of pressure top/bottom is perfectly timed and looks like new. Surely hope some of our experts can help An ancient mariner with this vintage headache.