1968 Mercury 200 20hp timing HELP!!!!

EricDickerson · #1 March 11th, 2008, 07:55 PM

I purchase this outboard not running. I went ahead and removed the flywheel to inspect the points. To get my puller on the flywheel, i had to remove the bolts from the hub. Only problem is, opps, i forgot to reinstall the hub bolts before tightening the crank nut and in spun on the flywheel. There are 8 bolts, so 8 different ways the flywheel can go. My question is, is there anyway to tell on these motors. I tryed 3 different position. The engine will run now but not good. Are there any timing marks that i am missing. Help would be greatly appreciated. I only want to pull it apart one more time.

PS. This engine looks to have been used very little so i dont believe any of the linkages have been tinkered with.

SpinnerBait_Nut · #2 March 11th, 2008, 08:09 PM

You have a PM.

EricDickerson · #3 March 11th, 2008, 08:18 PM

I am new to the site. What do you mean by PM.

hkeiner · #4 March 11th, 2008, 08:29 PM

A manual for your motor will contain the "link and sync" procedures. The first step in this procedure is to sync the timing pointer and flywheel with the position of cylinder #1. You will need a dial indicator tool (or similar) to do this step. The dial indicator step will show you if you have the flywheel installed correctly or not. Since you have removed the flywheel and related linkages, you must do all of the link and sync steps any way. If you don't, you risk damaging your motor if you run it and it is incorrecly set up.

Having said that, to just get close for flywheel installation purposes, you can check that the TDC mark on the flywheel generally aligns with the timing pointer when the #1 cylinder is at the top of its cycle. That is, closest to the spark plug.