1976 1150 mercury solenoid smoked melted

[moosymike]

I recently picked up my buddies 1978 ranger bass boat. it has a 1976 mercury 1150 on it. when I got the boat home I had to put the batteries in it. I called him to ask how everything hooked up. long story short, I got it all hoozed up and running. I took the boat across the pond and come back. that's when I noticed the smoke coming from the hood. I could smell that it was electrical so I quickly unhooked the power. when I opened the hood I noticed a black tar looking substance on top of the electrical box. at first I thought it come from the box. now that I looked at it closer it looks like it come from the choke solenoid. is it possible that my electric choke stuck on and melted the solenoid so it would basically erupt black tar looking stuff out?
I've worked on lots of things but boat motors are not my cup of tea. can anyone help me out with this? does this motor run on 12 or 24 volts?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1976 1150 mercury solenoid smoked melted

That motor is 12VDC, negative ground, like most cars. I suppose it is possible that the choke solenoid stuck closed. That would point to a bad choke switch or improper wiring. The wiring harnesses on those old motors tend to fall apart. I would recommend you inspect and re-insulate any wires that need it.

 

[moosymike]

Re: 1976 1150 mercury solenoid smoked melted

Thanks Chris. I did figure it all out. The choke switch at the key stuck in and thar made the choke stay charged so it had a little melt down. I pulled the old one out last night and I'm gonna try to get another one in the next couple weeks.
The wiring has all been redone on the motor so I'm good there. I did have it hooked up for 12 volts. I treated just like a car. lol

 

[moosymike]

Re: 1976 1150 mercury solenoid smoked melted

Chris, could you answer one more question for me? Is there supposed to be choke plates on all three carbs?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1976 1150 mercury solenoid smoked melted

Choke plates were only installed on the top two carbs, from the factory. The good news is that you really do not need 3 choke plates. One time, just for fun, I rigged up a choke plate on the bottom carb. It made no difference when cold starting. It took just as long.....