1979 1/2 115hp Mercury Tower of Power - Controls

[Chris46706]

I received a 1979 1/2 Mercury Marine 115hp Blue "Tower of Power" from my uncle, however the lever to shift from forward, neutral, and reverse has been broken. I am a novice with boat motors and looking for alternative aftermarket controls that can be used or where I can get a replacement handle.

Any support and advice would be greatly appreciated (by my wife and kids too... lol).

-Chris

 

[Chris1956]

Most Mercury controls will work. I bought one of these. It has the power trim switch on the handle, which the original doesn't.

Alternatively, If you can find a junk Merc control, you can replace the handle, as they come off with one screw.

Side Mount Remote Control Box 881170A15​

 

[Chris1956]

One more thing. The control I cited has a different electrical connection that your motor. You would either need to graft it to your wiring harness or replace your motor harness.

Your motor should have the ADI ignition with six ign coils. If you check the parts list of a later model ('86) IL6 motor, it might have the round six wire plug at the motor, and you can buy that new engine wiring harness to match the control. It should install on the motor w/o any issue. You could use the hole once occupied by the quick connect for the new harness to exit the motor. Some sort of rubber plug would dress it up.

If your motor wiring harness is original, you might inspect it. They are usually loosing insulation on the wires by now, and need to be replaced.