20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

Hey everyone, I'm really new to the whole boat motor mechanic thing. I have a problem with my mid 70's 20 hp merc. The pull start is not engaging and turning over the engine. The rope broke on me, and I replaced it, after that, the pull start would more often than not engage, but now it has almost completley quit. I did get it to engage twice tonight, but finally gave up on starting it. I can't seem to find a clear diagram of the pull start, and even if I could I wouldn't know what could be wrong. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? The rope comes out and goes in no problem, but its not catching on the flywheel when its pulled. Any thoughts and suggestions would be great.

Re: 20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

If you removed the wheel from the starter housing then the friction washer is either installed improperly or the shaft is loose if you did not remove the wheel either the grease on the dogs and friction washer is old and hard or has dirt contamination

Re: 20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

All that I had off was the pull start assembly. I'm guessing by wheel you're talking about the flywheel? What is the friction washer? I am sorry this is so vague, I am such a a noob with these motors, but this is something I can tackle if someone can tell me whats wrong.

Re: 20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

I think Laddies is referring to the wheel the rope winds up onto, not the flywheel. If you didn't dissasemble a bunch of tricky parts replacing the rope (it can be done without disassembling but it's tricky) then as Laddies says it may just be old hardened grease--I've encountered this also. You might try some WD-40 on the pawls and see it that makes a difference. If it does, try to clean out as much of the old grease, wash it out with WD-40 or PB Blaster and regrease. Good luck!

Re: 20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

what he was refering to is the center section on the pull start. the engaging mechanism works on centrifical force. when you pull the rope it creates enough force to engage and turn the motor over. Then once you release it , it disengages to let the motor run without constantly turning it. You may need to take it back off. clean it and reapply grease to it. Does sound like it may be that instead of assembled backwards since it does engage some of the time

Re: 20hp merc 200 pull start not engaging

I have taken the entire assembly apart, cleaned, and regreased all the parts, and put it back together following a schematic, with no luck. If I turn it upside down and watch when the rope is being slowly pulled, the pawl's will not come out of the slots into the egaged state. I found someone that had one for sale for 25 bucks and bought it. As soon as i pulled on the rope, no matter how slow, the pawls came out of the slots and engaged. The person that sold it to me tinkers with old merc's and told me that the assembly's are pretty notional. Anyway, I figured for 25 bucks I couldnt' go wrong, plus he's going to try to fix my old one and give it back to me for a spare!!