1967 merc 950ss trigger replacement

opalized1

Seaman
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Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
Motors run great since spring, been sitting forever, BUT intermittently loss a cylinder here and there, so after going through most everything, im left to replace the trigger, YUCK Currently have a 1976 1150 on the boat till I get this trigger replaced

Last thing to do to my boat, picked up a 1500 merc with electric tilt, so im gonna yank that motor off the transom mount trim assy, and yank my 950SS of its transom mount, and swap them, but without doing the trigger assy, I cant put it back on my boat. The 1150 runs like a champ that's currently ont he boat, but the added weight, and adding the trim assy which will add weight, it hangs pretty hard on the back of my boat, so Whos up for a Road Trip
 
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merc850

Commander
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Jul 7, 2010
Messages
2,022
It has a distributor and cap check the cap for carbon tracks and corrosion but don't try to remove the rotor it's molded on , also the wires screw into the cap, don't pull on them. Cleaning the cap and contacts might solve your problem and you can also check the resistance of the wires which should be close to 0 ohms.
 

opalized1

Seaman
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
Merc / Fatz:
I had replaced cap with a used one I picked up, emmediately took that cap back off and went back to original cap, cleaned contacts inside cap and rotor pointer, replaced all wires, and spark plugs, still intermittently drops a cylinder here and there, I replace the control box, with a cdi aftermarket, and it ran no better or worse. So im really at a loss why it would randomly drop a cylinder, and with dropped cylinders while running its hard to tell if its the same ones or random.
The motor seems to run great overall, starts easy, the drop cylinder is similar to my 1150 when I foul a plug, mostly at low rpm, and with throttle it will clear itself out and run pretty good to great mid range and top end.
idles fine, alittle bumpy at times, when a cylinder drops out but never dies, used it for 2 months every weekend, idling for 8 to 10 hours a day trolling while fishing, and maybe once a day it would die, and restart right back up, so what in the heck do I look at next, I know the stator is gone, because it doesn't charge my battery, same exact wiring hooking up to my 1150 and battery charges great.
I would really like to get the 950ss running right, due to weight, for my boat it would be a better choice. Unfortunately the caps for that motor are almost impossible to find, those are the ones that bolted to distributor instead of next year which had the little clamp, so if anyone out there has that cap id gladly pick it up from ya :)))
 

merc850

Commander
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Jul 7, 2010
Messages
2,022
I think that you are doing too much slow speed running, (this is mentioned in the manual), that motor is not a trolling motor and plug fouling or fuel overloading might be happening . What oil/fuel mix are you using and type of oil? I have seen those caps online and maybe a Mercury dealer will have one.
 

opalized1

Seaman
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Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
50-1 ON THE OIL, NAME BRAND PENNZOIL OR EQUIVELANT, THE 1150 GOES ALL DAY LONG AT IDLE WITH TROLLING PLATE WITHOUT AN ISSUE, WEEKEND AFTER WEEKEND, I UNDERSTAND THESE MOTORS DIDNT MUCH LIKE IDLING, IT WAS NOT THERE STRONG SUIT, THE 950SS DID VERY GOOD AS WELL IDLING FOR HOURS, AND ALITTLE ROMPING ACROSS THE LAKE WOULD CLEAR OUT ANY CONGESTION WHEN IT DID OCCUR, BUT RIGHT OFF A COLD START TO THE POINT WHERE ITS AT OPERATING TEMP AFTER ALITTLE ROMP ACROSS THE LAKE, IT RANDOMLY DROPS CYLINDERS WHEN COMING BACK TO IDLE, AND AGAIN WHEN ACCELERATING. tHIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE THE CASE, I THOUGHT THE TRIGGER WAS BAD AFTER REPLACING EVERYTHING ELSE, BUT BEING ADVISED HERE THIS WOULD BE MOST UNLIKELY, SEEMS TO RUN PRETTY GOOD OVERALL, TO GREAT, TOP SPEED WITH EITHER 1150 OR 950SS IS ABOUT THE SAME WITH SAME PROP, 35 MPH, BOAT ON THE TRAILER IS 2500 LBS, 18 FT ALUMINUM, WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF GEAR STOWED
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
36,047
Most 2 strokes have no problem trolling all day long.----Parts and pieces have no idea as to how big the motor is.----Test run with a timing light to see if you can pinpoint the bad cylinder.
 

opalized1

Seaman
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
2 cylinders consistently fail with timing light 2 and 5, but intermittently, i will also lose 3, 4 and 6, one is the only one that seems to be imune
 

opalized1

Seaman
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
Merc850, you dont see these caps anywhere new, 1967 merc outboard 950ss, 4 bolts hold it to distributor, i find them used, but the one i bought was far worse than the one i have, i would like to try and install the distributor from one of my 1150s, or my 1500, in the 950ss, those have the clamp on cap, but im not sure theyw ould interchange
 

opalized1

Seaman
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Messages
64
Update, I actually found one of these caps, factory original 1967, in the box complete with instructions, amazing find, so im one step closer to going back to my 950ss, which will be updated with electric trim, Very Happy, gotta get the new cap on and test run it make sure it solves the drop cylinder problem, if not I have a new trigger, which would be the last component not replaced in ignition system, if mine is not molded in to distributor housing as some of this year where.
 
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