78 merc 650 wont start continued Here We go Again

ok i posted a previous thread that i couldnt get my 1978 merc 650 with 65 hp to do anything other than choke I FINALLY figured that out it was the nuetral start switch in the controls jammed up i fixed that but NOW i hit the key and the starter turns but doesnt engage the flywheel its like it wants to come up but doesnt and seems to drain battery fairly quickly (like 30 seconds) is the starters drive gear bad or is it that i dont have enough juice in the battery to do the job?

thanks to all the replys on the previous threads


Old Boats Save Lives (By pulling the new one back to its trailer to go get fixed)

Re: 78 merc 650 wont start continued Here We go Again

The Bendix gear could be sticking on the starter shaft, but more likely is resistance in the starter electrical circuit.

Remove and clean all connections from battery to the starter/solenoid and the engine block.

Re: 78 merc 650 wont start continued Here We go Again

Do as JB states. I had the same thing on a boat I was working on for a friend. He thought the starter was fried and had bought one. Before I put it on I checked all of the terminals and althought they looked clean, I cleaned them anyway. After tightening connections back down it engeged the flywheel with no problem. That was two years ago and it is still working just fine.

Re: 78 merc 650 wont start continued Here We go Again

ok finally got the starter to engage (even though battery is about dead as a door nail) its hitting the flywheel finaly i did what you guys said and cleaned everything up even though they looked clean and also sprayed some wd-40 on the bedix and starter drive gear and teeth and now shes working fine now all i got to do is check for compression and rebuild all the stuff i need rebuilding after sitting for 3 years and hopefully we will be off and running

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL AND EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED YOU HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME AND I APPRECIATE IT!!!!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL ON HERE WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH A ALITTLE PATIENCE AND MAYBE A LITTLE ELBOW GREASE ANYTHING CAN BE FIXED!!!!

Re: 78 merc 650 wont start continued Here We go Again

Wouldn't hurt to have that battery load tested. Just to be sure.