Mercury 25XD

[Dennis101]

My grandsons were given a Carolina Skiff by their other very generous grandfather and since I have the dock and davits I get the priviledge of geting it running and supporting it.

The vintage Mercury (about 1985) 25 XD has an add on electric starter (fortunately for me). The other grandfather said it ran great but I can't even get a kick out of it. I drained the gas. checked the compression (both cylinders read about 100) and finally checked for a spark which seems to be the problem of both plugs which look very new but don't spark. I think the boat sat idle for the past year.

I put a meter on the spark plug wires and grounded it but still no spark or rather no reading on the meter when I cranked it.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated by my grandsons and myself

What can I do next to solve the problem?

Dennis101

 

[7920hpMercury]

Re: Mercury 25XD

Great motors, this design 25hp was around from 80 to maybe just recently a few years ago, maybe called the classic 25, before it finally went out with the onslaught of 4stroke's.

I suggest you get a Mercury factory service manual or I like Seloc too. Parts list from Mercury is good to have and not too expensive. Ebay has Mercury factory service manual too if you do not want to buy direct from Mercury.

First, I would check the kill switch circuit. I think your kill button is in the tiller arm. Disconnect the kill switch ground and see if you get spark. Also, make sure the motor is in neutral. If not, then you need to go through and ohm check ignition coils, + to -, and plug lead to ground, ohm check the trigger coil leads, and ohm check the stator leads. Also check for frayed/deteriorated wires. If all that checks ok per manual or here, I would guess your switchbox is bad by process of elimination. Search here will find DVA values if you have a DVA meter and you want to meter check the switchbox. Good luck and if you have good compression and good lower unit, definitely worth fixing!

 

[Dennis101]

Re: Mercury 25XD

Thanks 7920hp Mercury for all the leads. I can't find anything on the tiller arm that resembles a killer switch but there is a strange square black plastic thing on the lower left front that pulls in and out along with another long verticle plastic arm that seems to have no purpose. Could this be the kill switch? If not, do you know what it is? I guess I will be able to identify it when I can acquire a manual. Is there any schematics on the Internet?

Thanks again, Dennis101

 

[7920hpMercury]

Re: Mercury 25XD

Not sure, but I think you are describing the choke knob and fast idle knob. I think you pull it out to choke and turning right or left speeds or slows the idle.

The kill switch button, assuming tiller control, is in the end of the tiller arm, push button, right in front of the rubber tiller handle. You can also get an owners manual from Mercury direct or ebay which is full of good info.

Good luck.