You guys were so helpful with my last problem I thought I'd give this one a shot, too.
I fear that the control box rigging on my 1969 Mercury 500 is out of adjustment, and I'm not sure how to perform those adjustments.
When I shift into forward, the gears mesh immediately at about 15 degrees lever forward, and the throttle does not begin to open until the lever is forward almost 90 degrees.
The problem in reverse is the opposite. The throttle begins to open at about 15 to 20 degrees lever back, but the gears don't fully engage there -- by the time they do completely engage, the throttle has already started to open and the RPMs are high. The resulting grinding gear noise sounds ugly!
The engine also quits at idle sometimes, but it's running roughly so I expect that ... maybe new plugs for a start, and check the carburetor to see if it's gunked up.
Another question -- is automotive gasoline, which in this state has up to 10% ethanol, okay to run in an engine this old? If not, do marinas have gasoline without ethanol?
Thanks in advance,
Scott
I fear that the control box rigging on my 1969 Mercury 500 is out of adjustment, and I'm not sure how to perform those adjustments.
When I shift into forward, the gears mesh immediately at about 15 degrees lever forward, and the throttle does not begin to open until the lever is forward almost 90 degrees.
The problem in reverse is the opposite. The throttle begins to open at about 15 to 20 degrees lever back, but the gears don't fully engage there -- by the time they do completely engage, the throttle has already started to open and the RPMs are high. The resulting grinding gear noise sounds ugly!
The engine also quits at idle sometimes, but it's running roughly so I expect that ... maybe new plugs for a start, and check the carburetor to see if it's gunked up.
Another question -- is automotive gasoline, which in this state has up to 10% ethanol, okay to run in an engine this old? If not, do marinas have gasoline without ethanol?
Thanks in advance,
Scott