late 70s 115 outboard

[Purcell1]

hey guys,
So i had some problems with the starter on my motor, so i ordered a new one, currently waiting for its arrival.
I just bought this boat, so i have never seen it run. So im a little skeptical. Anyways, i was looking through my wiring, and i deffinatly would like to replace the main wires from my battery to my motor, the problem is, they go through that quick release. Would it be ok to run some 8 guage wires from the battery, up into the motor, and cut a new weather proof hole in the side?

Or if someone knows where i can get a new harness for this, that would help.
Next issue. I've attached a picture of some sort of a reverse assembly? it does not appear to be attached to the motor at all, but it is wiring up into my control box. Any ideas? Its located inside the boat, along the inside of the transom, to the passenger side of the boat.

Next, when the boat is in neutral, if i spin the prop by hand it seems somewhat tight. Are they supposed to freewheel while in neutral?

 

[79Merc80]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

Hello:

First thing, your Merc looks like a 72 - 75. Posting the serial # would help us get the exact year.

Second, The thired picture is a power trim/tilt pump, w/o the lines or the rams on the engine.

Third, the 4th pictrue is a bildge pump and a broken beer bottle.

Fourth, not sure what you mean by freewheel. The prop should be able to turn in either direction without any noise or grinding of any kind. But, I have never seen one that when you give it a spin, will spin for very long, maybe one to two revolution.

Hope this helps.

Craig

 

[Chris1956]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

Fifth, Your wiring is a birdsnest.
Use some jumper cables to spin the starter and take some compression readings. Post back results and some pics with the cowling off.

 

[Purcell1]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

Fifth, Your wiring is a birdsnest.
Use some jumper cables to spin the starter and take some compression readings. Post back results and some pics with the cowling off.

I seem to be making a few threads on this pesky thing.
Anyways, my issue now is the prop does not spin at all. Ive yet to get the motor started, but before i really open her up, i am wondering what causes this prop noise, when i spin it by hand, its very tight, and makes almost a grinding noise. Also the new starter i ordered doesnt even work haha. brutal, dont buy those crap ebay starters.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

Change the gear oil. Maybe you will get lucky....

 

[terry90]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

looks a lot like the cowl on my 78 900 , and make its all the way in netral if not the prop wont turn and you will get a no start

 

[Vision91]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

ill take that trim pump of your hands for ya. also looking at the pictures i noticed you also dont have a trim tab on your lower unit...u might want to get you since it will help with keeping the boat straight when u let off the steering wheel..also looks like to me that the boat is waterlogged..which could lead to other problems.. for the starter issue the only way i know to see if the new starter is good or not is just hook a wire to pos and neg... these r good engines after i redid all the wiring it runs ten times better now

 

[kazek]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

you can always use pullcord to start her up,with ear mufs on.prop not spining??bet u have it in reverse.in neutral .prop should spin freellly and in forward should lock one way ratcheting in other.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

If you can pull start that IL6, you either are a physical freak of nature, or she has low compression.

 

[WoodOnWater]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

There is a chance that you neutral safety switch is interrupting your starting sequence. With the cowl off, do you get a clicking noise when you turn the key to the start position? No click means you're not getting juice to the solenoid or your solenoid is bad. A quick and dirty check of your starter(s) would be to remove it from the motor and use a set of jumper cables directly to the appropriate contacts on the starter. Before you do that make sure that they spin freely. There will be sparks as it a lot of current and do it firmly. There is a lot of torque too, so they will try to jump on you if they do try to spin up. Check back in. You may find out it's a problem with your wiring and nothing to do with the motor.

 

[WoodOnWater]

Re: late 70s 115 outboard

hey guys,
Anyways, i was looking through my wiring, and i deffinatly would like to replace the main wires from my battery to my motor, the problem is, they go through that quick release. Would it be ok to run some 8 guage wires from the battery, up into the motor, and cut a new weather proof hole in the side?

I think this is a bad idea. Why do you want to replace them? Is the insulation bad? Replacing the wires is not necessarily a bad idea, but cutting a whole in the side of your motor (I assume) is a bit extreme. Considering the mess of the wires right now, you might consider going though and labeling each of the wires so that you know the function of each and pull any that are not in use. You could also run a couple of wraps of electricians tape every 6" or so to draw the wires a wiring harness. Wires are just naturally messy and it takes definite steps to keep them under control. I just wired the boat I'm building it would be a real rats nest behind the instument panel if I didn't keep it all tied into a harness.