No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

[Zq8 Blazer]

The serial # is A923834. It's a 60hp and from the serial # I believe it's a 1985 model and it has been in storage for about 10 years. When I hook jumper cables up to the + and - on the battery it turns like it's going to start, but I get no spark on any of the plugs. Is there some kind of theft feature so you can't do this without a key or is there some other problem I need to investigate? If it's another problem, what might it be?

Also I do not have a key for this, I cannot find it anywhere, what can I do about this??? In the meantime can someone explain to me how I can hot wire this unit? I want to make sure I can get it up and running before I spend time and a bunch of money putting it on my boat. The ignition has the following wires running into it:
yellow/red
TWO blacks
TWO black/yellows
TWO whites
yellow/black
TWO reds

 

[carholme]

Re: No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

That s/n comes up as:

60 60 3-cyl 0A197392 0B110788 1986 USA

From here:

http://www.marinshopen.se/Motorer/O...Mercury2takt3cyl6090hp/tabid/486/Default.aspx

It is a model:

1060726 MERCURY 1986 60

Parts Listing:

http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury-outboard/276.cfm

If you have a Mercury dealer close by, why not talk to him about a key as there are only a handful of different ones for these years and he may loan you a key ring to see which number yours is.

Barring that, here is a condensed version of the service manual which contains a wiring diagram:

http://web.ebscohost.com/serrc/pdf?...d-896f-8deef392dbd0@sessionmgr12&vid=4&hid=17

Download it soonest to your computer as the link does not remain active for long.

Gerry

 

[aussieflash]

Re: No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

Jump start from starter solenoid.On mine its yellow(to key) to red positive on solenoid.I rigged a starter with switch,10 amp wire and a couple of wire alligator clamps.Comes in handy when timing,compression testing on your own.
Also if sitting for 10 years ya may want to squirt a bit of 2 stroke in each cylinder and rotate by hand to loosen thing up.Good Luck.

 

[riptorn]

Re: No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

Disconnect the key ignition. Key off is the kill switch. leave wires open and taped. Or disconnect at motor to key. Should start
It's just a primary coil short out
After you get it started I don't know how to shut down so take that into consideration. Maybe choke it out?

 

[sschefer]

Re: No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

If it's a merc control you may still be able to get a key for it. There might be a number on the switch that will correlate to the correct key but I think they only made about dozen keys each year. If you need to disable the switch, the black or black/white wire is engine off or kill wire. With the key off, it's shorted to ground and is why you're not getting any spark. You've already figured out that jumping positve (red) to the yellow/red wire will crank the engine. You'll also find those wires at your switch. A simple push button switch for the starter will work and you'll need a toggle switch to short the kill wire to ground. You want to be sure to get your wires from the existing switch or you risk defeating the neutral safety lockout.

 

[Zq8 Blazer]

Re: No spark at all and how do I hot wire or get a key to a 1985 60hp Mercury???

Gerry, thanks I really needed that info!

Jump start from starter solenoid.On mine its yellow(to key) to red positive on solenoid.I rigged a starter with switch,10 amp wire and a couple of wire alligator clamps.Comes in handy when timing,compression testing on your own.
Also if sitting for 10 years ya may want to squirt a bit of 2 stroke in each cylinder and rotate by hand to loosen thing up.Good Luck.

Thanks. Actually it turns over just as good as my motor that I used last season, I was very surprised. I'll still run some seafoam through it though.

If it's a merc control you may still be able to get a key for it. There might be a number on the switch that will correlate to the correct key but I think they only made about dozen keys each year. If you need to disable the switch, the black or black/white wire is engine off or kill wire. With the key off, it's shorted to ground and is why you're not getting any spark. You've already figured out that jumping positve (red) to the yellow/red wire will crank the engine. You'll also find those wires at your switch. A simple push button switch for the starter will work and you'll need a toggle switch to short the kill wire to ground. You want to be sure to get your wires from the existing switch or you risk defeating the neutral safety lockout.

Thanks! I removed the harness and stuck the power wire in the female plug that the yellow/red wire attaches to. That got it to spark. Still won't start though, the plugs aren't getting wet so I'm going to see if the fuel lines are gummed up.