mercury 7.5 hp- starting cord problem

[sailaholic1]

I bought a 84 merc 7.5hp (s/n 6467028). It started after a few pulls, then worked for about 10 min and stopped when the fuel line came undone.<br />After re-connecting it, it worked for a few minutes and stopped (some smoke coming out). I waited a few minutes and repeated the process with the same result. The 3rd time, the cord would not move more than 1". As I was on the boat with my little son, I opened the motor cover and un-tighted the nut that sits on top of the starting mechanism. The following sound, seemed to indicate that a spring got released and that allowed me to pull the cord again (although it would not return back to original position). I ended up getting off the boat (near the coast) and pushing the boat back to shore.<br />Any ideas of what to do tomorrow, once I get some energy to look at the motor?<br /><br />Thanks in advance.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: mercury 7.5 hp- starting cord problem

One of two things may have happened...<br /> Worst case scenario: I don't think your initial problem was the starter cord not coming out - rather the motor had siezed and locked up, effectively making the starter lock on the locked motor. Was the motor pumping water properly while it was running? Did you have oil mixed with the gas at a 50:1 ratio? Sometimes when the motor heats up it'll sieze, then free up once it cools. Problem is, that the pistons may have been scorched to some degree. Run a compression check, possibly pull the intake port cover & note any score marks on the piston sleeves, and check that waterpump!<br /> Best case scenario: Your motor may have start in gear protection, in which case it would have a plastic piece on the recoil that engages the recoil plate when the motor is in gear. This prevents you from starting the motor while in forward or reverse. If that was the case, simply repair the recoil and make sure you're in netural before starting... Hopefully your recoil just needs to be reassembled and nothing has sprung...<br />- Scott