2 questions for my merc 650 kiekhaefer

[c. allen]

i jus bought a boat that has a merc 650 kiekhaefer with a s.n. 1962166 that i do not know what year it is which makes it hard to find parts and everyone cannot find my seriel number in any system. i had it running untill i went to put in a new ignition switch which crossed wires in the proccess and didnt work so i put ol switch back in but no spark. i need help with finding out what the year is and how can i fix the spark situation.. it sounded great when it ran for the 10 mns

 

[wrench 3]

The model identification chart in the Sierra parts catalog makes it to be a 1966.
The ignition switch on your system grounds the salmon wire (they used some strange colors back then) to stop the spark. If your work on the switch caused the loss of spark, that wire must be grounded.

 

[Chinewalker]

Good chance that you may have fried the coil or burned the points with the mis-wiring. If you put 12-V through the magneto, you can cook it. Well worth going through the magneto anyway, so it may be time to find a service manual and dig in. Those mags are basically a glorified tractor magneto and are pretty simple to work on.

 

[c. allen]

if the coil is burnt or the points what would be my nxt step

 

[wrench 3]

Remove the distributor cap and inspect the points. If you did feed 12V down the salmon wire, most likely the arm of the points will be burnt off at the contact end.

 

[merc850]

This is what it looks like inside

You undo 4 bolts on the top and pull it down and out then you undo 2 screws that hold the cap and wires- the wires are held with screws in the cap don't pull them out without undoing the screws.

 

[c. allen]

im guessing that melted part is the problem where all the wires connect is it fixable?

 

[racerone]

It certainly is part of the problem ---This magneto does not need 12 volts to make the spark.---You may have made an expensive mistake.

 

[c. allen]

so am i better off givin up on this engine? cause i cleaned off points and all melted stuff then put it back togather and still no spark

 

[Chinewalker]

Why give up on the whole motor because your mag doesn't make spark? They turn up on eBay all the time. Same basic Kiekhaefer 4D magneto was used on many years and models of Mercury 4-holers. If the bakelite cap and case aren't cracked or broken, you can often find one that has those parts that ARE broken for cheap, and swap your bakelite bits onto the other mag.

 

[MTboatguy]

I would not give up, it will probably not be much money to fix if you take a look on ebay as Chine suggested.