Re: My First Merc Outboard
Congratulations! You have a great engine. I just bought an old 1150 inline 6 too and I will tell you what I did before I tried to fire it up. First I bought a compression gauge to see if any of the jugs were bad. I sprayed fogging oil in the spark plug holes first to make sure there was lubrication of the dry piston rings. I bought a remote start switch from Autozone for $16, and connected the leads to the battery side of the starter solinoid and the yellow wire lead between the batt and starter motor wires on the solinoid. With the batt connected and the ignition switch to on (this engergizes the white wire on the switchbox which will provide voltage to the coil and plugs so you can check your spark) I found that my spark was not happening and opened the distributor cap to inspect the rotor and cap. Be careful as there is a small carbon brush or button in the center of the cap that connects the coil (center wire) to the rotor. This brush is mounted on a tiny spring that often breaks after several years, and makes a poor connection with the coil. This brush can be had for about $5 online. Mine was broken, so I am waiting for the new brush to arrive.
You can just crank the engine with the ignition key, but I was doing it by myself and wanted to stand right next to the engine to watch the grounded plug and to work the compression gauge.
The fuel pump can cause problems if it is not working properly. The kit to rebuild this very simple pump is also inexpensive.
Good luck and let us know what happens!
