I finally started to look over my newly acquired engine today, and I already created some grief for myself. I'm actually not used to being able to shift from the tiller handle, and in running it through it's range of motion today, I guess one of the gears was in that sort of mid position, and when I exerted a little too much force on the handle, I felt a distinct "snap". It turned out to be one of the linkage rods, and I managed to break one of the plastic ring ends that slips over a ball-like end that moves the shift rod. It's a 25hp, 1986 model Merc. Does anyone know if this rod would likely be available from a dealer? Also, when I went to check for spark, I discovered that it had "surface gap" spark plugs. How do you check for spark with these plugs? Thanks for any help you can give me.
