Distributor help Merc 1150

[brburcham80]

Hello, I hope somebody out there can help me out a little here. I have a 1977 Mercury 1150 with Distributor. I had her out a few weeks ago and it ran great. Last weekend I took it out and once I got it started it ran horribly. It would only run with the cold start lever up, and then it seemed as if it would only fire on 4 or 5 cyls. If I put the lever down, it would die. It only would start/run horribly with the lever up. <br /><br />What could the cause be, I have put new plugs, cleaned the fuel filter, new gas, checked the fuel pump. What could be the problem. <br /><br />Any help would be awesome. I cant wait to get it running and back on the water.<br /><br />Thanks for any help<br />Brad

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Hi Brad,<br /><br />First thing to do is make sure you are getting spark to all the cylinders. Grab yourself a spark tester at any auto parts store and check them one at a time. Let us know how that goes...

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Brad, The lower spark plug wires go first. However, they do last a long time. You might look for arcing, or do the "feel" test for spark leaks. Other than that, you should check to assure all carbs are getting fuel. Pull the main jet cover in the bottom front of the carbs, and pump the ball and make sure all leak fuel at the same rate. After that, I expect the carbs are dirty. I would also remove the distributor cap and wipe it clean. Sometimes grease/oil/water gets into the cap. Remember, the rotor is not removeable, and the cap is $100+ new, so don't break it.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Clean the cap with hot water and dish soap use a flux brush or something simular, let it dry good and give it a try. Do not try to remove the rotor it's part of the shaft, if the center carbon is worn you can but it seperately from mercury

 

[Clams Canino]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

I'd bet on the carbon brush in the cap as a 1st guess.<br /><br />-W

 

[brburcham80]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Thanks to all who replied. I did the spark test by arking the spark plug to a ground. All but the top two were very strong arcs. The top two seemed to be weaker or almost missing spark once in a while. I adjusted the carbs by screwing the mixture plug all the way in and then backing it out a full turn (that is why the service manual said). All the carbs had a response on the engine if it was to lean so I am guessing that all carbs are getting gas. <br /><br />I wont have a bunch of time to work on it till Thursday, but I am wondering if it could be a trigger??? I am new to outboards, and I am not sure if it even has a trigger, but could that cause it to idle horribly?? <br /><br />I will also clean the dist. cap and see about replacing the center graphite. I did pull that center graphite out and it was on a spring that was coated with grease, should it be greased???<br /><br />Once again, thanks to everyone. I am new to Iboats, and the help is very awesome.<br />Thanks again<br />Brad

 

[timmathis]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

The trigger is your distributor. No you don't want any grease in the cap. Clean it well. You can run the cap in your dishwasher to clean it.

 

[Clams Canino]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

The spring came with some factory grease. You can clean the cap without disconnecting it using carb-cleaner and q-tips followed by 409 and q-tips. The trigger is not your problem or they all wouldn't fire. <br /><br />Carbs need more adjustment than "1 turn out" follow the manual procedure for setting them while trolling in water later.<br /><br />-W

 

[timmathis]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Sounds like you need to change your plug wires.<br />Tim

 

[Clams Canino]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Not until testing them for leaks.<br /><br />-W

 

[timmathis]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Clams is right after testing if bad.<br /> Tim

 

[brburcham80]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Thanks for all the help. I am going to work on it as soon as i get off work Thursday. I will post what I find out.

 

[brburcham80]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

I forgot, I do have one more stupid question. I was looking at the cap and plug wires to see if I could switch plug wires and see if there was a bad wire, (I dont have a vom at my house right now) but it seems the wires are molded into the cap. They do not pull out like normal wires do. Could it be possible that the cap and wires are one solid unit???

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

The wires screw into the dist. cap. They are solid stainless steelcored, with commonly availible spring steel ends. You can replace the sparkplug connectors, and if needbe the spark plug boots, if the wire cores are not corroded.

 

[brburcham80]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

I think I might have found the problem. The wires that go into the main power plug on the inside of the motor are completly shot. There was one wire that was in half, and the other all have no insulation because of the dry rot. I am guessing that the wire that is in half (a good sized guage red wire) that goes to the switch box might not let spark get to the distributor??? Anyway, I know I need to replace this part for sure so I will start there. Thanks for the input Chris, I will check into the wires also.

 

[brburcham80]

Re: Distributor help Merc 1150

Woo hoooo, I replaced the rotten wires and waalaa, power. She purrs like a kitten. The only thing I think I need to do now is change the impeller. It is very slow to start peeing, and it seems to get hot fast.