Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

goodoleLund

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I got a 1973 85hp merc that I am working on. The motor looks to be in great shape, the engine compartment looks new and has never been touched. THe motor has not been started in roughly 8 or nine years. Do I need to do anything special before starting. I went through and replaced all of the old wiring and wanted to crank her to make sure that she would turn over and spark for me. Will that tear up the internal parts with no lube? Am I better off waiting until I have gas/oil mixture to crank it?<br /><br />Thanks a million
 

Elmer Fudge

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

er!i would get the fuel lines hooked up first and run some premix,but firstly you need to service the water pump,do some decarbing,new plugs and rebuild the fuel pump,also check all of the oil lines they often get brittle and fall apart.
 

rickdb1boat

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Also, put a couple spoonfulls of straight TCW-3 oil into each cylinder spark plug hole and turn it over by hand a few times using the flywheel, with the plugs removed, to lube the cylinder walls before you attempt to turn it over. That will work JUST to turn it over and see if you have spark. Just don't start it until you follow Elmer's advice. You should also check the lower unit fluid for water intrusion. Remove the drain and fill plug(Bottom) and see what comes out and what color it is. Let us know...
 

goodoleLund

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Thanks a lot for the quick reply guys. I will do an archive search on here on servicing water pump and rebuilding fuel pump. My only question is about the oil lines. At the risk of sounding ike an idiot, I thought all the oil that was put into the engine was achieved by the 2 cycle proscess of mixing the fuel and oil in the tank. So I am not real sure what oil lines you are talking about. All of this said, I really appreciate your help and without this site I would nothave tried to do this myself. <br /><br />Oh yeah, where in the world can I get parts for the fuel pump on a 73. Thanks!
 

ZmOz

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Yeah, DON'T run it without any lube. And putting it in the spark plug holes is a really good idea. Although I can tell you from experience they run rather well with no oil at all... :p
 

rickdb1boat

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

You can get a complete pump kit(recommended) from the link below.You will need the serial number to get the correct one. Don't worry about oil lines. You don't have oil injection, do you?. If not, Just mix your oil and fuel at a 50:1 mixture in your tank. 1 Pint of TCW-3 oil to 6 gallons of gas.<br /><br /> web page
 

alcan

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Hi Good<br />You are correct. I think Emlmer might have been reffering to units with oil injection systems and on some models there are small oil recerculating hoses.
 

rickdb1boat

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Although I can tell you from experience they run rather well with no oil at all
I don't know where that came from??? Are we havin' a fun night ZmOz ??????
 

ZmOz

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Originally posted by RB:<br />
Although I can tell you from experience they run rather well with no oil at all
I don't know where that came from??? Are we havin' a fun night ZmOz ??????
Apparently you didn't read my post about this in september. :) I was so angry at the stupid old men blocking the boat ramp for an hour on a PERFECT boating day that I FORGOT the oil. :eek: (It should be known I told my friend to remind me about the oil at least 3 times, and he didn't) Ran for about 5 minutes at WOT, engine died. Couldn't think of any reason why it would, so I started it back up again, and it started fine. 5 more minutes near WOT...died again. I nearly crapped my pants when I remembered the oil. Put in about double the oil, primed the crap out of it, and eventually it started although it turned over really slow. Engine wouldn't rev up, so we started back towards the dock, and it started to work like normal again. For the next two hours or so we continued to have fun, engine running fine. Then we ran out of gas, I switched the tanks, and it hasn't started up since. :( :mad: My boat is sure hard to paddle... :D
 

rickdb1boat

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Good story, ZmOz. I missed that one and now see why you said that. I have to say that was pretty funny story, but I imagine it wasn't to you. sorry to hear of your misfortune. Ya know they say S##t Happens, but that is crazy. :D
 

goodoleLund

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Would it be a good idea to replace the impeller? Seems like a lot of guys recomend that and it comes with some of those rebuild kits? How tough is that to get. And a really dumb question. Where is the Water pump...<br /><br />The rookie thanks you
 

ZmOz

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Originally posted by goodoleLund:<br />Would it be a good idea to replace the impeller? Seems like a lot of guys recomend that and it comes with some of those rebuild kits? How tough is that to get. And a really dumb question. Where is the Water pump...<br /><br />The rookie thanks you
Yes...it's a good idea to replace it every year. I don't know how it's done though...
 

rickdb1boat

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Definitly replace the water pump before you run it. You will need a Manual to run you through this. It's basically a matter of unbolting and removing the lower unit on the motor, diconnecting the shift shaft and pulling it off. The water pump sits on top of the driveshaft. That's the easy part to do.Getting the lower unit off and back on is the tricky part, but not hard to do. You really should learn how to do this, as it should be done every other year or so. If you run into a problem, all you have to do is ask on here and someone will help you along. But it should go fine if you follow the Manual. An 8 year old rubber impeller has become hard and taken a "Set" in the directon that it turns to pump the water. Once this happens, it can break aprt and leave chunks of rubber in the cooling passages. Not good, as they will cause an overheat situation and you will have to flush them out(No Fun). Not to mention it will overheat from the impeller just being worn out and hard. So, just replace it and that will be one less thing you have to worry about. Remember, heat is the main killer of 2-Stroke outboards. Here's a link or two where you can order the kit for the pump. Best to get the kit, instead of just the impeller. You will see why when you get it apart. Have your serial number handy for the one site. Always good to have it anyway, as almost any part you order will require the number. Links:<br /><br /> www.maxrules.com Pump Kit # 3316 $45.00<br /><br /> www.mercruiserparts.com <br /><br />You will need the serial number for this site! Your motor goes under the heading of 850 on the Mercruiser site.<br /><br />Oh Yeah, Generic Manuals are avaiable at the bottom of this page. I recommend the Seloc if you go this route. More detailed! or get a FActory Manual that is specific to your motor, but it is for the more advanced motorhead. Personally, I like the Factory manual because it only cover MY model....<br /><br /> Factory Manual
 

Elmer Fudge

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

Alcan, you are correct,i was indeed refering to engines with oil injection systems,sorry for the confusion.<br />Well goodolelund,Rick has provided you with excellent info to go forward :cool: .Please post and let us know how you progress :)
 

andrewkafp

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Re: Cranking motor without gas line hooked up, ok?

goodoleLund <br /><br />Looks like you were in the right place at the right time.. when the veterens were logged on.. :D :D
 
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