1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

[Ron Bacardi]

Hello. I recently purchased a 1985 starcraft CSS ( from what I can gather) with a 120 mercruiser I/O. It has the typical older boat issues seats, floor's and such but my main interest is wiring at the moment. The previous owner had the motor turning over before I bought it but some of the wiring is a bit, we'll say Chopped. I've found diagrams for the 3.0 liter but not much on the 2.5 which is what I believe I have. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. I've been around motors all my life. But this is my first personal boat purchase. Any info would be greatley appreciated.

 

[achris]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

These should help you... Download and save them...


Engine manual (including all wiring diagrams)
Drive manual

You may want to include your engine and drive serial numbers in any subsequent threads... It's basically essential information to help us help you...

Enjoy...

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

Thank you! I really appreciate the help.

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

Well I have the wiring diagram all but memorized. And I'm chasing wires fairly well but I gotta be honest. I'm having a heck of a time locating the starter slave solenoid. Any tips on the location or perhaps it's just not there? Maybe I'm just blinded by the obvious?

 

[achris]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

It should be under the manifold... If you post your engine serial number I can get to the drawings I need for your engine....

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

I don't see anything under the manifold except what looks like a bunch of empty bolt holes. And a fitting that looks like its for a sending unit of some kind. The engine serial number is 5974215.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

That serial number is for a 1981 engine, not an 85.

You should find the slave solenoid on the bracket with the main circuit breaker and the main harness plug. It will have a couple of yellow wires with red stripes going to it.
It will not be on the manifold side of the engine, the bracket should be just above the starter.

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

I suspect tjis is probably the reason the wiring harness I all chopped. The wires all connect to their expected counter parts. With the exception of a few. The large gauge orange an red wires from the harness are cut and spliced together. I assume in the former owners attempt to start it without the slave solenoid. There are a few other wires for the trim sending unit and water temp sender that aren't connected either but I can re run those after. Main concern is getting it started to see If there's anything I need in the way of a re-build.

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

And there is no bracket for or including the solenoid above the starter. Circuit breaker is there and everything else seems to be there. Also there seems to be a plug missing from the exhaust riser. Not the large one with the squared receptacle, just a smaller hole which looks like its drained

 

[Don S]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

Take some pictures and post them. Hard to tell what a previous owner will do when they start swapping and eliminating parts. Especially on 30 year old boat with the wrong engine.

You might not even have a slave solenoid if it was taken off. It could still work.

 

[Ron Bacardi]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

Well I've gotten it to where it'll turn over and everything is working short of the bilge pump. But there's no spark. Coil checks out ok so a set of points and a condenser is next I suppose. Will the coil not fire if the alternator is bad or if the shift interrupter block is corroded? Battery is new but there's barely any voltage at the + coil post. I ran a jumper from the battery and there was 12v but still no fire. Ill try to get some pictures up tomorrow. Doing all this from an iPhone at the moment.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1985 starcraft 120 mercruiser questions

Well I've gotten it to where it'll turn over and everything is working short of the bilge pump. But there's no spark. Coil checks out ok so a set of points and a condenser is next I suppose. Will the coil not fire if the alternator is bad or if the shift interrupter block is corroded? Battery is new but there's barely any voltage at the + coil post. I ran a jumper from the battery and there was 12v but still no fire. Ill try to get some pictures up tomorrow. Doing all this from an iPhone at the moment.

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,... Points oughta be 1st,...

The alternator shouldn't effect it, the shift switch Will,... Unhook it,...