1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

[anyquist]

As stated it is 1984 50hp mercury . I was told that my motor needs a new ignition switch. I am almost positive from what he explained its not called that.

He said that its a box that my coil packs get the power from. Then told me the part is $350.

I am looking for a diagram to find out what the parts real name is. But assume someone here knows what part I am referring to.

My question is this. Is it possible to rebuild the board? The compassitor is starting to fail and the rest of the board looks good.

Or if anyone knows of a cheaper place to get the part.

Thanks in advance.

Aaron

 

[jtjt]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

thats probably the switchbox hes reffering too. I recently did some reading on pulling them apart and repairing but it doesent sound like much fun because there completely encased in epoxy. If you had the patience to dig the epoxy out for hrs on end some people actually had success and if you shop online you can find them cheaper but they are usually in the 300 dollar range depending.

 

[anyquist]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

Thanks, Looking at a diagram he was talking about the ignition switch box. Would one that is starting to go out cause an intermittent loss of power? That is the problem. I know other things can cause that. However, I have gone through and replaced or rebuilt everything with the fuel system.

Also, should I replace anything else at the same time? Or should I be alright because it hasn't completely gone out yet?

 

[jtjt]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

im not a mercury tech but its possible for a swith box to cause what your saying, they can cause a rash of problems if not operating correctly. as for the rest of your parts unless youve got some money to toss around cause merc electronics arent cheap i would test everything to spec with a multimeter and call it good if all is well.

 

[anyquist]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

I pulled the old switchbox off the motor. It is the old metal case styl. I have heard that the older metal cased switchbox would frequently cause arching issues.

Anyways I also noticed that the white/black wire that comes from the trigger had a crack in the wire insulation. It is the original wiring with the peanut butter plastic wire coating. It easily came off the wire when I put my thumb nail into it. After pealing some of it back there looks like about an inch of a bad section in the wire. It has light corrosion (white coloring) on the wire.

Maybe the switchbox is ok and the wire was just failing for one coil pack. I know that the flywheel comes off with four bolts fairly easily .

I think that there is a hub under the flywheel that also must be removed to get the trigger off to replace. Is that a tuff job? require special tool?

I wish I had more money cause I would take it to the shop, but I am mechanically inclined. So thought if its not to horrible I would do it my self. Or is it possible to cut out the bad piece and solder on some new wire with some heat shrink tubing?


thanks again

 

[jtjt]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

look for post buy sutor625 hes pulling a flywheel right now and requires a special puller to make the job easy, i private messaged him a few times lately he seems like a cool dude, he gets back to you pretty quick. hes got a pic of him with a big bass on his post and a link for the tool.

 

[anyquist]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

Thanks I am having troubles finding the user that you talk about. Could you link a post here?

 

[jtjt]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

its actually sutor623 sorry, hes got a ton of threads on here and like almost a thousand posts he must be on here like a hawk, im not to savvy at posting links but if you keep your eyes on the left hand side of all the mercury threads you should see his username pop up within the first couple pages.

 

[fisherguy123]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

Hi......I sent you the portion of the manual that covers the electrical for your motor........hope it helps you........by the way my `82 merc is an excellent motor .........hope you can get your problems sorted out !

 

[anyquist]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

appreciate the help guys.. Nice to have a people like you around for help.

 

[sutor623]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

its actually sutor623 sorry, hes got a ton of threads on here and like almost a thousand posts he must be on here like a hawk, im not to savvy at posting links but if you keep your eyes on the left hand side of all the mercury threads you should see his username pop up within the first couple pages.

Hahhaa, yea Im on here quite a bit. Sorry any, my Inbox was full. Yeah I bought a really nice puller off ebay. It was around $37 shipped. Here it is.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Mariner-Yamaha-Force-Outboard-1-1-2-16-Flywheel-Puller-91-849154T1-/370598819142?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item5649693546&vxp=mtr

 

[BiltzDog]

Re: 1984 mercury 50hp ignition problem

I had the same problem, and am almost finished replacing the stator($140), trigger($60), and switchbox($200). I also bought the puller from ebay. The wiring on my stator and trigger was worn just as you described. I have purchased the parts from marineengine.com and I'll let you know how it turns out. I probably could have skipped replacing the switchbox, but I think I read somewhere that a bad stator can damage the switchbox or vice versa. You will need a flywheel holder when you take the bolt out, I just eased out a couple of outside bolts on the flywheel and used a 2x2 to keep it in place.