Preventative maintenance on Mercontrol

[eli_lilly]

I have a 70s era blue band single lever Mercontrol that works fantastic and I'd like to keep it that way. From what I have read on here, it's a nightmare to get back together if it is opened. Is there any sort of PM I can do on this unit to help it live longer or is it better to just leave it alone?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />-E

 

[sport15]

Re: Preventative maintenance on Mercontrol

The Seloc book that covers the '65-89 40-115 engines has a nice section in the back that walks you through taking a control apart and craming it all back together.. Problem is with all the wire that goes to the key, power trim, kill switch and accessories. Read the book, go slow and you will do just fine (stay off the hootch till you're done !). <br /><br />Take care of what you have, I had to replace a side mount (burned up harness) that came with a "new to me" engine, the wire alone was so scary that I said the heck with it (and my wife authorised it) and ended up with a whole new unit for alot closer to $300 than I ever wanted to be !!

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Preventative maintenance on Mercontrol

Thanks for the response! I have the Merc service manual, it only has installation instructions for the controls, and I didn't think the Seloc manual would cover anything additional. I'll pick one up now.

 

[nos1013]

Re: Preventative maintenance on Mercontrol

The Seloc manual helped me. But more for the mechanicals than the wiring. For wiring, if you need to strip back the sheathing on the cable, and redo the wire because of brittle insulation, do yourself a favor, and unsolder, cut off, strip and resolder one wire at a time. Otherwise, it gets too confusing. Other than that, it's fairly simple. Hope this helps.