Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

[Skydive80]

Hello All,
I have a 1969 Mercury 650 (4cylinder 2 stroke).
Checked compression, everything appears ok.
Tried to start (turn over) the engine and nothing. There is no sound from the starting solenoid and a lot of wiring needs to be replaced.
Motor has been sitting for approx 5 years in a tilted up position on the boat.
I was just curious if those with experience with these timeframe / model of Mecury motors, believe the quality of the motor is worth spending the money to repair.
Thank you for any feedback / information provided.
Skydive80

 

[JB]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Howdy, Skydive.

Welcome to iboats.

"Spending the money to repair", as in hiring someone else to do it?? No.

"Spending the money to repair", as in buying a Service Manual and any needed parts, spending the time to learn and do?? Absolutely yes. You have a lot of help available right here and that requires no spending at all.

 

[outboardnut]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

+1 for JB's answer.

If you are a hands on do-it-yourself guy then yes.

If you are in a place where shop rates are $100 per hour then you would probably be best off just dropping a grand and buying a decent motor already running ready to go.

The motor is pretty simple and I think a novice mechanic with some ambition could get the girl back on the water.

 

[Skydive80]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Thank you both for welcome. The generosity of people here and the number of members I saw rebuilding StarCraft boats is what inspired me to sign up. As far as the motor goes, I definitely plan on doing the work myself but I did not know if that model Merc was worth spending the money.
1965-67 14' Fiberglass StarCraft w/ 1969 650 Merc power tilt/trim
1967 16' Aluminum StarCraft w/ 1965 402 Merc
Definitely glad I decided to join this forum.
Thank you,
Skydive80

 

[avenger79]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

hey sky welcome. here is my "i'm not an official boater yet" thought. I have a 15' avenger with a '68 merc 65 hp on her. I love the boat which is why I still have it. the motor on the other hand has not become my best friend. I bought the manual for it and it is very helpful but.............

it needed the carbs and fuel pumps rebuilt. i wasn't sure i could tackle it so i paid a shop. that's when I found out two very important things about that motor.
first, many parts are no longer available so when you get into it so far and then realize you need a part that is no longer built you're either out the money you've spent, building your own parts, or scavenging used stuff and hoping it works.
item two that I learned is when you pay a shop $100 / hr to repair it they will put the youngest dumbest mech they have on it who has no idea how to work on old motors that were born before him.
mine "runs" now but the timing and air fuel mix are way off. I have decided to stay with her one more season and see if i can get it going on my own.
if i had to choose again i would grab a different motor and go from there. if you can get it up and running for just the cost of elbow grease, then it would be worth it.
don't know how well you know boats, i knew nothing about them when i got this one. the motor is completely foreign to me. i can work on everything else in my garage but this whole configuration totally baffles me.
keep us informed how it's going and if you need any info from the manual let me know.

 

[honestcharlie56]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

find out what years will interchange parts with yours, go to you local boat shop and find out what they have sittin in the graveyard. you can make some good motors out of junk for really cheap

 

[aganser]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

I grew up with a 4 cylinder Merc 650. It's a wonderful motor. If you keep it and fix it up, great. If you don't want it please find it a good home.

If you need parts and can't get them here at iboats there are parts sources available, just Google Old Mercs

You can get lot's of help here as well:

http://www.pfs-ware.com/phpBB3/index.php?sid=4f5a5a653aba9ef39d4a494ddeb3ac54

Enjoy your new toy. It's a gem!

Bob

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Im a little in the dark here. You said you checked the compression but havent been able to get the engine to turn over, How did you check the compression if you can not get the starter to turn the flywheel.?

 

[Skydive80]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Thank you all for the tips and the links. Avenger79, thanks for offer to help out with info from the manual, I will definitely let you know as I get further into the rebuild.
Thefairlaneman, the compression test I did was a basic remove spark plugs, placed my thumb over the hole and turned the flywheel with the other hand. I just wanted to get an idea of how things were or if any pistons were completely shot.
I will post some pictures soon. Thanks again.
Skydive80

 

[road.ripper]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

hi Skydive80 im new to this aswell i also have a 650 4cyl im workin on ..see my post 1970 65hp 650 prop..
i have lots of work ahead but im learning with the help of many here .. im doing a compreesion test tonight and a test to see if the rod bearings are ok i think its called a piston drop test or rod drop test , either way im rebuilding this one because i have heard good coments on this motor. good luck with yours . check my post out often as i will get updating as i go..
road.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

skydive, There are alot of old school boat and engine folks here. They will be glad to offer advice. My 1960 mercury would still be retired if I hadnt found this forum.. good luck

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Howdy,
I have a '73 and '74 merc 650. It is the 3 cylinder model. I've never driven a 4 cylinder merc 650 but my father owned one years ago and said it would absolutely blow the doors of the 3 cylinder 650 which I have, and was a very powerful, incredibly tough, and smooth running motor. My 3 cylinder mercs run good, but one has a busted water jacket held together by jbweld (I've run about 10 tanks through it so far and she's still together!) and the other is doing some weird stuff but runs good and is plenty fast for me.

I think you should get a $6 spark tester and a $20 compression tester at autozone and do a spark check and real compression test before you go any further. If it doesn't have nice even compression on all cylinders, you might want to rethink fixing it. If it does, then on to getting good spark. Then cleaning carbs., then replacing water pump and fuel lines, and probably wiring. All of this is slightly time consuming but fairly easy to do (I can handle it and I'm no mechanic:redface.
You can still find parts for your motor if you know where to look, and we can help steer you toward the right places.
It's definitely worth a try to fix it if it has good compression. However, just getting the powerhead running good is only half the battle. You need to get your lower unit checked for water intrusion and if it's leaking, then the fun begins......
I hope I haven't said to much....
JBJ

 

[Skydive80]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Thanks again for the positive feedback, for both the motor and this website.
Road - Good luck with your motor hope all goes well. I will defitnitely keep up with the progress you make.
Jbjennings - Glad to hear you and your father believe in the quality of this motor. It was the one thing that had me doubtful of rebuilding it. Appreciate the advice of the compression test kit. Never thought about picking one up at autozone, thought it would have to be a marine style, but compression is compression.
Thank you all.
Skydive80

 

[Skydive80]

Re: Curious if free 69 Merc 650 is worth repairing?

Hello All,

Has anyone here had any experience with the older style hydrolic tilt/trim systems. I keep going back and forth between repairing this one or just spending the money on a newer setup. Any advise is appreciated.

http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,554,00.html

Thank you,
Skydive80