Distributor harness 1976 mercury 115

[OldCoyote]

Is it possible to replace the 3 wires that go in through the distributor housing? Mine are very frayed and rotten.

 

[Faztbullet]

I have heard of it being done after digging thru sealant and such. I myself would recommend replaceing dist housing and ony if motor was top notch

 

[racerone]

Do a complete evaluation of the motor before spending big $$$$ on parts.-----Your location?

 

[OldCoyote]

Do a complete evaluation of the motor before spending big $$$$ on parts.-----Your location?

Im in western Canada. I just got the motor along with the boat. An older 17’ Larsen. All cylinders have good compression and I’ve replaced the engine wiring harness. Still, those distributor housings are darn expensive. I am pretty good at mechanical stuff so may have a go at fixing it. It’s not going to run like it is. One wire is hanging by a few strands. So I don’t have much to lose at this point. I’ll need to remove it which looks like I’ll have to remove the flywheel and the small pulley to get at the three bolts on the end of the shaft. Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

You do not need to remove the flywheel to get the distributor off. You may need to remove the outer flywheel to get a to the bolts, I cannot quite remember. I think it unbolts from the bottom.

On that distributor, the rotor is non-removeable and fragile and $200+ to replace, so easy does it.

 

[OldCoyote]

You do not need to remove the flywheel to get the distributor off. You may need to remove the outer flywheel to get a to the bolts, I cannot quite remember. I think it unbolts from the bottom.

On that distributor, the rotor is non-removeable and fragile and $200+ to replace, so easy does it.

That's good to know. Thanks.

 

[1960 Starflite]

A few years ago there was a detailed post with pictures showing how a member removed the filler/potting material, gaining access to solder posts for those wires. I should have saved the information but didn't. Might try searching the archives.

 

[Faztbullet]

The question is ..does it have spark? If so go ahead and try to repair, if not it could already be bad and not worth the time to try and repair. The wire can be coated in liquid electric tape for testing if worried about shorts

 

[OldCoyote]

The question is ..does it have spark? If so go ahead and try to repair, if not it could already be bad and not worth the time to try and repair. The wire can be coated in liquid electric tape for testing if worried about shorts

I appreciate the suggestion and in principle it makes sense. The challenge is one wire is broken pretty close to where it goes into the distributor. I could try to mend it good enough to test for spark as you suggest. Not much to lose at this point.

 

[jimmbo]

Im in western Canada. I just got the motor along with the boat. An older 17’ Larsen. All cylinders have good compression and I’ve replaced the engine wiring harness. Still, those distributor housings are darn expensive. I am pretty good at mechanical stuff so may have a go at fixing it. It’s not going to run like it is. One wire is hanging by a few strands. So I don’t have much to lose at this point. I’ll need to remove it which looks like I’ll have to remove the flywheel and the small pulley to get at the three bolts on the end of the shaft. Thanks

Where in Western Canada?

 

[Chris1956]

CDI Electronics has a test on their website that tests everything in the ign system, except the distributor trigger. You might run it so you know your wiring, coil and switchbox are good.

 

[merc850]

I had an old distributor with the same problems so I removed the grommet and dug out the epoxy? and found the terminals - I used a dremel tool with a round tip.