1977 Starcraft Restoration project

[Watermann]

I think the gap they normally have makes it a non issue but if the WS panes are up tight it could bind, just look at the wear marks on that hang over lip and you can see where it's worn.

The tach sender wire on my Merc is gray and it comes up inside the controls but there's also a plug out of the controls that has ground, switched power and the tach sender.

 

[classiccat]

You're correct. Grey is for your tach; Purple is the accessories.

Some newer power pilots have an output plug for taking accessories and tach signal to your console shown below.

if you don't have one of those output plugs, you can splice-in...which is what I did on my '75.

I added a few holes in the existing strain relief:

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Hey thanks guys! And classiccat thanks for the pics. Im pretty sure youve posted that on my thread already its all coming back to me now lol. Either way, with the diagram pic you posted it makes more sense to me now. Could you tell me what the 2 black wires coming out of yours is for? And also, will I need any other components for my tach to work? I have settings on my tach for my motor Ill have to post a pic later but not sure which mine needs to be on.

 

[classiccat]

Hey thanks guys! And classiccat thanks for the pics. Im pretty sure youve posted that on my thread already its all coming back to me now lol. Either way, with the diagram pic you posted it makes more sense to me now. Could you tell me what the 2 black wires coming out of yours is for? And also, will I need any other components for my tach to work? I have settings on my tach for my motor Ill have to post a pic later but not sure which mine needs to be on.

Ha...it did feel a bit like deja vu! :lol:

It's been awhile since my controller has seen the light of day.

One of those wires is ground and the other is for a kill switch. Post 101.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Yep.. Looks like I may have to take that apart again. The thought of it makes me cringe lol. Ive been wanting to paint mine also but have been putting it off. Thanks for the link though!

 

[Watermann]

Hey while you have it apart install a kill switch too.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

I will look into that as well. Where did you put your kill switch classiccat ? And I found an easy wiring diagram online I have followed if anyone ever reads this and wants to do the same. I originally only had time to install a fuel gauge but if you want other gauges this coule help make things easy

 

[baldwibr]

I hooked one end of the grey wire to the negative side of the coil on the motor, and the other to the sender post of the tachometer gauge.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah 2 stroke OBs have multiple coils and need an open circuit to run, the orange wire that comes into the switch is the run wire when it's grounded the motor will die. I had room to drill a hole into the front of my control box and install the kill switch.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Hey guys! Been a bit since Ive posted Ive been pretty busy trying to get her ready for the water. Went to Detroit for some walleye yesterday and got a 5 man limit. BUT! The ride home was ROUGH.. Hoping someone could point me in the right direction. On our way back the motor seemed like it was flooding? We would have it in full throttle and it would slowly sputter out and die. I was down river about 15 miles so the trip back took us 3 hours at this rate since we could only run it at 5mph for any length of time. It would still sputter out but I could hurry put it in neutral and lift the choke lever (i think thats what it is) and it would idle extremely high.. higher than IVe ever heard it idle then taper off to a normal idle, then I could take off again just to keep doing this over and over.. IF I didnt put it in neutral and raise the lever quick enough it would die then we had to site for a few min for it to start again.. Doing this over and over ended up killing the battery (took a battery from trolling motor to keep going) and we actually ran out of gas by just before we got to the launch and someone had to tow us back in.... ALSO, at the end there I heard a bilge going off. Not sure if it was on auto pump or if it was shorted out somewhere. It was just a pump under the livewell to pump the water out of it. But Im mentioning that just to see if it was shorting if that would cause probs with the motor possibly.. When I got home I checked the plugs and they were burned out. I rebuilt the carbs a couple years ago and have only run motor a handful of times since then with no problems. Not sure what has changed and not sure whatto even start diagnosing. Also, one last tid bit if I had motor trimmed too high (where Id normally have it at to go full speed) it would die very fast. I couldnt put in neutral and keep it going it would die too quick. I had to keep motor deep in the water to keep it going for any length of time. Im hoping someone has a oh its this! for me lol. If I just gunned it to go as fast as we could it would bog down much faster also. Going slow and steady kept us going for about 5 min at a time.

On a side-ish note, ever since Ive had motor it will usually start up right away 1st time. Almost without fail after I ride around a bit and shut the engine off it will almost never start up again. The carbs fill with gas and I have to tilt motor up to dump the excess gas to start it back up again. This was NOT the case this time and from reading on line this happens to a lot of people with this exact motor. Ive just dumped the gas and been fine but wondering if anyone knew of a fix for that or maybe if the 2 problems were some how related. IVe looked everywhere online have not found a fix and rebuilding the carbs did not fix the problem. Any help is GREATLY appreciated! I want to get back out on the water ASAP so hoping I can her squared away =) Heres a few pics of the last few days of my build. Theres a few spots of vinyl I need to tuck in and I forgot I only had 2 small covers so I had to screw down a couple boards over the front holes and I did fix the back seat mounts before we left. Youll see in the pic they dont match I dunno why I didnt notice that. With 5 guys in the boat with the trim tabs she planed out nicely and we were still able to run around 28mph (32 is fastest IVe been in it) so anyone reading this and has a boat similar to mine... GET TRIM TABS!! HIGHLY recommended! Even cutting through the waves with this much weight was amazing. I also have that giant gas tank in the belly and she still handled like a dream. Get them!

 

[Watermann]

I have a couple of ideas, my old Johnny suffered from similar events.

Have you replaced or rebuilt your fuel pump? The bogging with power applied is one of the symptoms of a bad fuel pump diaphragm and or plugged flash hole that does into the crankcase.

Hows thew wiring on the motor? Have you replaced the rectifier and power pack? Since the battery died, check the voltage with a meter when running on the muffs, a bad rectifier will not charge the battery. Power packs do weird things but always ends up making the boat where it runs poorly and in the end won't start or it's difficult to start at odd times.

The last time my Johnny did this the power pack went out and the rectifier was burnt out. The first time the fuel pump was bad with a hardened diaphragm.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

I havent done the fuel pump yet could look at it but it didnt bog down immediately. It seemed like the angle of the motor and the faster I went the quicker it died out like it was flooding more than losing fuel. I can def check the fuel pump out though Id rather check every option out. Ill rebuild the motor if I have to. Its a great motor when it works never had a prob until now really except for the flooding but that was easily manageable and I only had to do it once when I went out sometimes not at all.

I have also not replaced the rectifier and power pack. I suspect more of a low battery than power pack since we had to keep turning the motor over and over. I will check the voltage though to check to rule that out. Is a power pack the same as a coil pack? I can fix cars all day but for whatever reason the marine motors have my head spinning.

And thank you for the info it really is appreciated. To be honest after all the hard work Ive done and this happen it feels like a hard blow. But, Im very determined Ill get it fixed but some help getting me in the right direction helps tremendously.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Also forgot to mention that in my previous post when I let it idle and lifted the choke handle it would idle VERY high. Higher than Ive ever heard it idle then after about 30 seconds it would return to a normal idle. That also makes me feel like it was flooding out.

 

[Watermann]

Sure wish you had taken a video, it's worth a 1000 words.

The only way for your motor to flood is if the carb job went bad by way of the needle valves stuck or float not seating them and that could cause fuel to spill out the throats while running.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

The carbs were rebuilt not long ago but I may take a peek at them just to be sure nothing is sticking. I didnt think about it but the boat has sat since last year August-ish with 3/4 of a tank of gas in a brand new tank with new lines also. I was only able to put 2 gallons of fresh gas in it. But when it sat I had fuel stabilizer in it. You think maybe the gas was stale or something? Not sure if it would have run at all if it was but not sure what possible symptoms would be if that were the case

 

[Watermann]

The carbs were rebuilt not long ago but I may take a peek at them just to be sure nothing is sticking. I didnt think about it but the boat has sat since last year August-ish with 3/4 of a tank of gas in a brand new tank with new lines also. I was only able to put 2 gallons of fresh gas in it. But when it sat I had fuel stabilizer in it. You think maybe the gas was stale or something? Not sure if it would have run at all if it was but not sure what possible symptoms would be if that were the case

Fuel should be just fine if treated. I use non E premium and it sits for several months with nothing in it. It's the E laced fuel that will separate and suck water in. Do you have an inline spin on filter/water separator?

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Just took the coils off one has a huge crack on it. Assuming its bad. Going to replace it for sure and test the other 2. More than likely just replace all 3 so doing this more out of curiosity than anything. They are only about 30$ online and easy to replace. Also planning on testing the power pack as well but it MAY have already been done. Looking online it says you can test the power pack by moving a brown wire, well that brown wire was already cut and spliced back together. The power pack is also plastic and theres just not much of anything that was made out of clean white plastic on these boats. Hoping this is it!

Also, no I dont have the water separator but something I will be getting just one of those things I havent gotten to just yet. Probably order that with the new packs.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

Wondering.. should I just replace the coil packs, power pack and stator and just be done with it? parts really arent that expensive.

 

[Watermann]

That's what I did... sprayed new electrical parts at my old Johnny, bam ran great. Then when I got the old Merc, I did the same and it runs like a top. I might add that I also replaced everything fuel related too.

I know this may be a shock to some but outboard electrical parts from the 70s I've found to be less than reliable.

 

[pntbtrjllytme]

:laugh: My thoughts exactly. Im thinking I will just go that route and redo all of it. Who knows, I could replace the coils then the power pack go out the week after and Ill be limping back to the dock again. Im glad it was on the Detroit River on a calm day with 1000 people on the water. I could have been on Saginaw in bigger water theres no way I would have gotten back. Better safe than sorry. All the parts will run me 3-400$ thats nothing compared to the time and money Ive already thrown at this lol. The motor needs some love too!