1972 Mercury 80HP - Safety Swich / Distributor

[samm835]

I bought a small 15ft boat a couple of weeks ago, and it came with I believe to be a 72' Mercury 80HP motor. It looks like it has two safety switches near the distributor cap. I think the cap is on wrong though, because it seems to only start when its in gear(either forward or reverse). I do know some about motors, but not a great amount. If I push the throttle forward it moves the dist. cap so it pushes one of the safety swiches closed, so can I just turn the cap so it will only start in nuetural? I hope this makes sense.....if not I will try to clarify a little more if you have any questions. Thanks in advance!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1972 Mercury 80HP - Safety Swich / Distributor

OK, the neutral safety switch should be in the controls. It should only crank in neutral. Not sure what switches you are referring to.
Usually the distributor caps only fit one way, and do not influence whether the motor can crank or not. The distributor will swivel to advance the timing. Maybe the motor is not a 1972? Can you post serial number?

 

[samm835]

Re: 1972 Mercury 80HP - Safety Swich / Distributor

I will have to get that tonight when I get home from work, I will try to grab a picture of the two top things I am talking about. They might not be safety buttons/switches, but one is on one side and the other is on the other side. When the dist cap turns, it pushes the button up, and seems at that point to allow the motor to be cranked. The motor plate has "kiekhaefer" on it, so now that I think about it, it must be older. Thanks for the help I will try and post the info you needed soon.

 

[merc850]

Re: 1972 Mercury 80HP - Safety Swich / Distributor

It sounds like you have a Direct Reversing model and that's how it works-Neutral is stopped, it starts in Forward or Reverse depending on where the control handle is.Check the plate between the clamp screws for the serial Nr. and operating instructions.