Kiedisdog19
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2013
- Messages
- 14
My motor is 1983 Merc 800, using a Quicksilver control. Just finished a restoration of a 1974 Lund, thats what its on. The previous owner said the motor ran well, but he only ran it on a stand, never actually put it on a boat in the water. The motor starts a little rough, sometimes it needs starter fluid. I thought I had it idling nicely enough in the yard, with the lower end in a big barrel, so I tried my shakedown run today. Got it started, began to pull away from the dock, and it would die if I pushed it at all. No tach yet, so I'm not sure what RPM it wants to die at, but I'll guesstimate under 1,500 - 2,000. It will idle up pretty strong in neutral, the problem is happening in gear, under load.
Due to an incredibly stupid mistake (I shrinkwrapped the leads coming out of the motor the wrong colors, and I had the leads crossed up). Yes, I wrapped the end of negative that attaches to the starter body red, and had it connected to the positive battery terminal, and the white from the solenoid was wrapped in black, and connected to the negative post. Dumbest mistake I've ever made in 45 years as a gear head........ I realized my problem when I figured out that the starter was spinning the wrong way, so the Bendix wouldn't jump. When I removed the shrinkwrap.......I was sick. So I replaced the rectifier, and it seemed ok.
Now I'm wondering if I cooked my stator and trigger assembly due to the wiring screw up. Based on a lot of what I've read in the forum, seems like a pretty good guess, but an expensive one. I am a very capable auto mechanic, but new to outboard motors. Probably seems like I'm new to the theory of + and - too, but I'm not. I'm pretty much ready to pay a real pro to fix it, unless theres something simple I'm missing. Thanks.....
Due to an incredibly stupid mistake (I shrinkwrapped the leads coming out of the motor the wrong colors, and I had the leads crossed up). Yes, I wrapped the end of negative that attaches to the starter body red, and had it connected to the positive battery terminal, and the white from the solenoid was wrapped in black, and connected to the negative post. Dumbest mistake I've ever made in 45 years as a gear head........ I realized my problem when I figured out that the starter was spinning the wrong way, so the Bendix wouldn't jump. When I removed the shrinkwrap.......I was sick. So I replaced the rectifier, and it seemed ok.
Now I'm wondering if I cooked my stator and trigger assembly due to the wiring screw up. Based on a lot of what I've read in the forum, seems like a pretty good guess, but an expensive one. I am a very capable auto mechanic, but new to outboard motors. Probably seems like I'm new to the theory of + and - too, but I'm not. I'm pretty much ready to pay a real pro to fix it, unless theres something simple I'm missing. Thanks.....
