1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

[timothy47129]

I just bought a boat that hasnt been used since 1993 ,its been garage kept and is in great shape and has a mercury 85 hp outboard on it.It was winterized but the tank still has fuel in it so the question is were to start to get this thing running again?
I know i need to clean carbs,fuel tank,replace fuel filter ,sparkplugs ,wires and change lower unit oil.other than that what about the impeller, fuel pump diaphram and do these have a t-stat?Im not new to boats but new to outboards I have messed with the carbs on my buddys outboard but thats about it.


thanks,
Tim

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086

 

[timothy47129]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

ok cool pretty much covers what i figured needed to be done.

thanks

 

[BonairII]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

Be sure to replace every last piece of fuel line also.

 

[timothy47129]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

thanks didnt think of gas lines yet

 

[chum1]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

impellor, new lower oil and fill screw seals, fresh fuel check for leaks, go have fun

 

[timothy47129]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

so I got the boat a few days ago and it was a 1978 80hp.I worked on it today and and found most the insulation was falling off the wires so I rewired pretty much 85% of the wiring from the harness connector to everything else.Also cleaned carbs replaced all fuel lines,cleaned spark plugs and replace plug wires.It started up and ran but not real good.So going to replace plugs tomorrow and see how she does.

 

[hotrod53]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

I went thru that with my '78 Merc 500 after 13 years of moth balls and a busted lower unit. New plug wires, cleaned and rebuilt the carbs and fuel pumps, new impeller, new fuel lines, new plugs, used lower unit .... on the water 2 years now. Probably want to do a compression test after its been run, not sure if readings are accurate after sitting for so long unless it has been run.

My 50 does not have a thermostat.

 

[aussieflash]

Re: 1977 mercury 85hp that hasnt been ran in 19 years were to start?

The main thing to replace is the water pump.Forget everything until that is done.Then rebuild carbs(new gaskets and needle/seats),Just cleaning wont do.Then drain and re fill lower unit oil with new fill/vent plug gaskets.Running motor before this could cause serious damage.
Test for spark and compression before throwing anymore parts at it.