2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

[RickyRegs]

My 2003 60 HP Mercury is not starting.
When you turn the key, the starter turns and flywheel spins. it sounds like it wants to start but will not.
When i push the key to choke, i do not hear the solenoid click... should i hear it?
This motor is new to me and has previously run great for the 3 months i have had it, including last weekend.
During this week, i did take off the gear and throttle cables to re run them. Is it possible they are now not positioned properly?

 

[RickyRegs]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

It seems i might not be getting any spark.
Not certain and not sure what to try next.

 

[jeffersondodson561]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

It seems i might not be getting any spark.
.

??
The internal combustion needs three things: good compression, properly timed spark and proper fuel air mixture. "seems" needs to be confirmed. Take a timing light and put on spark plug wire of each cylinder. If the timing light flashes you have spark jumping the gap. If no timing light is available take a spark plug and ground it against the block and wintness the spark jumping the gap. (some people will insist that a spark checker is needed for this...BS) Here is the thing with electrical issues, you cannot see it, smell it or taste it. But you can feel it or bullsh!t it. Know what is true and what is not.

 

[RickyRegs]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

??
The internal combustion needs three things: good compression, properly timed spark and proper fuel air mixture. "seems" needs to be confirmed. Take a timing light and put on spark plug wire of each cylinder. If the timing light flashes you have spark jumping the gap. If no timing light is available take a spark plug and ground it against the block and wintness the spark jumping the gap. (some people will insist that a spark checker is needed for this...BS) Here is the thing with electrical issues, you cannot see it, smell it or taste it. But you can feel it or bullsh!t it. Know what is true and what is not.

I was told i can stick a screw driver in the wire and turn it over with the screw driver near the block to see if i see a spark jump; which i did not see one. Should i be grounding the screwdriver
on the block and try to see if a spark jumps from plug to screw driver - or -can you explain the method you described a little more.

 

[jeffersondodson561]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

Yeah you could but their is no specified "gap" with a screwdriver. Here is the thing you need to understand. Engineers designs motors, an engineer does not design an ignition coil for any specific application. An ignition coil will jump the gap further than any spark plug manufactures design. The same applie to fuel pumps and fuel components. In fact I would like to know how many satisfied customers their are from just sending off their injectors to be cleaned. I have read many posts but have not read any (have not been on here for a while) that have come back to this site to say that sending injectors off to be cleaned benefited them. And everyone practically that I have helped on this site has told me that our troubleshooting procedure has worked. Just sayin'...

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

It is very easy to overlook the 'kill' lanyard, make sure it is plugged in correctly.

A 7/16 inch gap spark in free air is necessary to ensure the ignition system can fire under compression at full load RPM, less spark intensity will limit the RPM and power underway.

The 'choke' or enrichener system doesn't always make an very audible 'click' unless you have the motor cover off and are near the small solenoid that opens to allow fuel flow.

 

[RickyRegs]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

It is very easy to overlook the 'kill' lanyard, make sure it is plugged in correctly.

A 7/16 inch gap spark in free air is necessary to ensure the ignition system can fire under compression at full load RPM, less spark intensity will limit the RPM and power underway.

The 'choke' or enrichener system doesn't always make an very audible 'click' unless you have the motor cover off and are near the small solenoid that opens to allow fuel flow.

Trouble shot according to http://www.iboats.com/basics/diagnose_starting_problems.html
Isolated the problem as in the ignition system. There was a bad connection - problem (easily) solved.

 

[water world]

Re: 2003 Mercury 60HP ELPTO not starting

disconnect kill wiring at engine take boat out of picture. boat from engine. remove black and yellow wire. have hooked up to water in case it starts. or use spark gap tester.if it starts check remote kill switch.