1960 Erude Starting

I have a 1960 Rude 40 with an external starting box (solenoid and volt reg) - when I hook to battery and turn key nothing happens !<br /><br />The box has a place for a fuse, but it does not look like it is required to complete the circuit - but then I'm no electrician.<br /><br />Can you help ?<br /><br />Thanks

Re: 1960 Erude Starting

There are a few places for fuses for different attachments. If your is mechanical shift (has a lever on the side), then it doesn't use most of them. You could have a bad solenoid, switch, or something's wrong with the safety switch. There are two mercury switches attached to a gear on the throttle linkage where the linkage goes thru the lower pan. One is for an ignition cutout to prevent run-on when you bring the throttle down fast, and the other prevents starting if the throttle lever is sitting too fast. That was the early equivalent to a neutral safety switch. The wires to those are probably broken by now. Or maybe the idle is adjusted too high and you can't throttle it down far enough to make contact thru the mercury switch.

Re: 1960 Erude Starting

Thanks I will check those out. Is there a way to bypass those to see if the starter works ? Like attaching the battery directly to the starter ? <br /><br />I really appreciate your help !