Late 1960's Mercury 650 65hp not starting....

[TampaNate77]

So I bought the this motor few days ago... bolted it up and went to start it before completely bolting the control box and running the cables thru. So I check for spark and make sure its getting fuel before trying to start.... and its getting spark, but noticed that there is some fuel leaking coming from the fuel lines running to the valve assembly... there is like 2 valve type assembly's that the fuel lines are running into... well its leaking out of those lines. And so I went to try to start it just to make sure the motor runs, and spins, and spins, and spins but doesnt fire up. Then I hear some weird noise coming from the battery so I went to make sure the terminals were tight, and the Negative terminal was so hot it burnt my finger pretty bad. What the hell would cause that? I also notice the motor was in gear when I went to crank it. (throttle and gear cable are not connected yet)

 

[BonairII]

Re: Late 1960's Mercury 650 65hp not starting....

You could have a short somewhere causing it to draw so much power that the battery overheats.

Don't be so impatient that you feel the need to get it started BEFORE fixing a fuel leak etc. That's a surefire recipe for starting a fire, burning out the starter and/or starving the cyls of oil.

Replace ALL fuel lines from tank to motor(including any lines on the motor itself). Old fuel lines can(if they haven't already) disintegrate internally and foul your carbs. This will prevent the motor from running or make the motor run lean and fry your motor.