1978 Mercury 1150 Fried or not ?

[brothr-grim1]

Ok I'm a first time boat owner. I bought a 1994 G3 17' aluminum boat with a 1978 Mercury 1150 to expand my job. I was told that it couldn't be started because gas was left sitting in it. Plus no batteries. I've took bigger gambles, so I rolled the dice. I pulled the lower end to check the impeller due to it sitting for "a year". I found a major mess. The impeller is melted, small amount of sand around the impeller, and the impeller cover melted in places with heat blisters all over it. I'm looking at changing the water pump, impeller, impeller housing (upper and lower), and all gaskets. What else would I need to check ?

 

[Faztbullet]

Before you start buying parts run a compression test as you might be looking for a different motor.

 

[brothr-grim1]

Do you know what range would be good ?

 

[brothr-grim1]

Also I have to buy plugs, wires, and positive wire to the coil. before I can do a test. Seems to have been a small fire on the front bottom under the distributer. No clue yet why the wire to the coil is melted. Parts list is at $200 now. Maybe double after checking the coil, relay, and switchbox.

 

[gm280]

Obvious the seller knew about such things and made excuses to not try stating it. But looking at the entire water pump assembly, it is obvious that somebody either run it out of water for a prolong time, or there was something sucked up in the water passages blocking any water flow. That could also be the reason for the problem with the ignition system and melted wires and such! As stated above, run a compression test on all cylinders before ordering any parts. It may not be worth the money outlay if it needs a total rebuild. You don't need anything else working to do a compression test but the starter circuit with the plugs removed... Don't repair the ignition system to do that test. As far as the range, I'm guessing anything around 100 PSI and within 10% of all the other cylinders. Maybe as low as 90 PSI could work too. But anything much lower isn't good. I'm sure others will correct my assumptions if they're wrong! Post your results and we can asses how you can move on with the repairs and such...

 

[brothr-grim1]

Ok I'll put the lower back on, and do a comp. test. Crossing my fingers hoping for the best expecting the worst.

 

[Alumarine]

Ok I'll put the lower back on, and do a comp. test. Crossing my fingers hoping for the best expecting the worst.

You don't need to put the lower back on to do the compression test.
As GM said, take the plugs out and get juice to the starter.

 

[brothr-grim1]

Oh I had a bad image in my mind of stuff coming apart if the lower wasn't on. Guess its like a car motor, and transmission kinda. I grew up working on auto, just no marine motors. Ill try to get a comp test, and get back with yall this evening. Thanks very much.

 

[Faztbullet]

compression need to be 110psi or higher, it will not run or idle worth a chit with 90-100psi

 

[brothr-grim1]

Ok no compression test tonight. Battery is shot. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any ideas what could have caused a fire under the distributer. It don't look like it was major. Just a few charred spots on the spark plug wires, a few electrical wires, and the plastic cover on the 2 lower carbs. All of it is light damage. Nothing totally burnt.

 

[Faztbullet]

Flooding carb or trying to start with starting fluid.....

 

[brothr-grim1]

Ok so the melted pos. wire on the starter solenoid would be due to them cranking on it to long. Likely flooding the carbs causing a fire. Also I pulled the spark plug wires.....wasn't even a screw on end on 4 out of 6 wires. Just peeled the rubber back, and stuck it on the distributor with the boot. I learning what not o do for sure.

 

[Chris1956]

The spark plug wires are supposed to have a crimped on screw end, as they screw into the distributor cap. The "tower" high voltage wire also screws into the distributor cap, and has a friction fit into the coil. Remember that motor has CDI ignition. The Switchbox discharges into the ign coil when it is time to fire the plug, so you will not see voltage on the coil, with the ign on.

 

[brothr-grim1]

Yea I learned about the screw on part in just a second. Ill keep the cdi part in mind.

 

[brothr-grim1]

Ok I have a little info on compression. Still no battery. I didn't get off work until 10:00. As soon as I got home I grabbed the pull cord, and went to pulling. Cylinder 1 - 105 lbs. Cylinder 2 - 110 lbs. Cylinder 3 - 110 lbs Cylinder 4 - 105 lbs Cylinder 5 - 112 lbs. Cylinder 6 - 105 lbs. I know using the pull cod isn't the proper way. Just what I had for now.

 

[Chris1956]

Those numbers sound OK to me. I would investigate the condition of the ignition and if that is good, the rest is cheap to fix.

 

[Chris1956]

You can get spark plug wires for $6 ea. Carb kits are about $20 each. Waterpump cover, impeller and gaskets, probably about $50.

 

[brothr-grim1]

I had the day off so I got to dig deeper. Here is what I found from top to bottom. Starter bracket is broke, and missing. (pic attached) Choke is took loose or something. ( pic attached ) Carb baffle / choke plate melted. Merc switch wire cut (pic attached) Gel on back of ignition box is melted (pic attached) Throttle stop missing. Also I found 2 metal parts laying in the bottom. I found where they go, but I don't have any idea what they are for. (pics attached)

 

[brothr-grim1]

No Title

I guess the pics didn't post. Here they are though. I'm kinda wondering if this thing needs more than I can afford at the moment.

 

[Chris1956]

Starter bracket could be sourced from a junkyard. Heck I could send it to you. Choke cylinder needs to go into solenoid on top cowling support. Switchbox doesn't look good. You should remove dist cap and have a look. Rotor is not removable, and is fragile. Make sure it is in good shape. Cap is $100, rotor $200+. I am not sure what those loose parts are. Hard to see 'em clearly. That corrosion on the exhaust cover doesn't look too good. Might be a salty motor. That solenoid looks to be in the wrong place. I thought that the solenoid was mounted under the starter.