2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

[Caddytx]

I have a 115 mercury that won't start. Starter turns flywheel either one or two turns and stops. Tried manually turning flywheel. It seems to have a lot of resistance on two turns and then eases up. But could not manually start engine, seems like too much resistance is present. Tried bumping starter directly with car battery but same results as by ignition switch.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[wired247]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Your engine is bad or your lower unit is bad. drop the lower and see if it will start. If it does your lower is bad. If it doesnt you are looking at engine work.

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Your engine is bad or your lower unit is bad. drop the lower and see if it will start. If it does your lower is bad. If it doesnt you are looking at engine work.

Not the news I was hoping for. Any tips or suggestions on dropping lower unit? Weird thing is engine ran right last time on water.

 

[wired247]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Remove bolts and nuts. Drop lower.

Did you let it sit out in the cold over the winter?

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Remove bolts and nuts. Drop lower.

Did you let it sit out in the cold over the winter?

Was stored indoors. Not very cold in TX gulf coast though.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

You could try removing the spark plugs and rotate the flywheel with a breaker bar and see how much resistence their is or if thereis something binding.

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

You could try removing the spark plugs and rotate the flywheel with a breaker bar and see how much resistence their is or if thereis something binding.

Ok will try that before dropping lower end. How much resistance without plugs should I expect? I can spin flywheel by hand but seems like a lot of resistance.

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Removed lowered unit and motor cranked up. Any ideas on what to look for in lower unit.

 

[wired247]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Uncrew the plugs and see how much metal comes out with the oil. You will likely need a new lower or a rebuild.

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

No metal on oil. Removed water pump to examine. Impeller looked ok but I will replace. With impeller on turning shaft on lower unit seemed very tight once removed it was very easy. Any other suggestions?

 

[wired247]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

Do you have a compression tester?

 

[Caddytx]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

No. Engine started easily without lower unit. Will replace water pump impeller and look at shift shaft closer. Would a damaged shift cam cause the issues I have?

 

[wired247]

Re: 2002 Mercury 115 won't start, hard to turn flywheel manually

You can run on one or two cylinders with no load but you couldnt even turn over before. Still thinking your lower is shot. A damaged shift shaft causing a problem? Is your shift cam damaged?

 

[Caddytx]

Replaced pump impeller and issue solved. Old impeller was not cracked or torn, but it was very rigid impeding flywheel movement. After replacing pump impeller all good with starting engine with lower end attached.

 

[Caddytx]

Replaced pump impeller and issue solved. Old impeller was not cracked or torn, but it was very rigid impeding flywheel movement. After replacing pump impeller all good with starting engine with lower end attached. Forgot to update. Repair was done at the beginning of April.

 

[Nathan Bond]

Thanks for coming back and updating!

 

[enginepower]

I hope you start the engine in water or with the ears on. Water pump impellers don't last long when engine is started dry. Just some info to help preserve your new impeller.

 

[Caddytx]

I always start it with ears on to test. Impeller was about 3 yrs old.