Mercury Switchbox Wiring

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Yeah New York you have a digital multimeter. That symbol is the Ohms symbol. I used a analog meter that has a needle on it. The analog works best for Ohms readings, but you can use a digital.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Well I decided to take back the digital multimeter and buy an analog with the Rx scale...I feel more at ease that way. I tested the trigger and stator using the digital scale and they seemed OK, but I may have gotten lost in all of the manuals directions, LOL. The temperature has been wicked cold here in KS the last couple of days and is below freezing again now so I will wait to test again until tomorrow. I took off the switchbox that I think is not working and before I shell out a 100 bucks I wanted to see if there is anyway to test it. My manual talks about testing the switchboxes, but there is not reference on how to do it. If anyone could help me with testing it I would be very greatful.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

One more thing...I mentioned earlier that plugs wires 1, 3, & 5 were not firing at higher RPMs. I rechecked them and I noticed that I could not see or hear the spark at higer RPMs, but when I removed them the motor would change tunes like it may have been getting a limited spark and at idle they seem to effect the motor more when removed 1 at a time. But at both idle and higher RPMs the 2, 4, & 6 wires had very noticable spark. I know I should be using a better selection of equipment to test these things, but I have been dumping a ton of money into this boat and I have to cut back a little for now, so I am doing some things old school and as free and/or as cheap as possible. I also want to thank all of you sooooo much, I would be partially lost by now if it had not been for this forum and all of you...Cheers!

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Alright, so I finally got around to testing the Stator and Trigger this morning and they tested perfectly. So if I am not getting spark at higher RPMs that leaves only the switchbox right? Is there anyway for me to test just the switchbox to see if it is truly bad?

 

[bullbat]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

83 that has 2 power packs on the right hand side of the engine i beleive and each one feed 3 cylinders try swapping them and see if the skipping cyclinder cahnge

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

single or dual coils??

6 individual coils and 2 switch boxes.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

I swapped places of the boxes today and put in the new white/black wire that runs between the two boxes. The motor seemed to be running great on the muffs so I decided to take her to the lake for a trial. Bad news, as soon as she was in the water she started acting just like it did when I first got the boat. I have heard or seen the spark on all cylinders, but some seem weaker than the others, is this a switchbox problem? Like I said earlier I ran the simple Ohms test on the stator and the trigger and they were all within spec. The boat still idles well, but if I put it in gear it starts stalling and surging really bad at about 1500 RPM and even once I put it in neutral and increased the throttle is did the same thing. I don't know what else to do here.

 

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Well New York, at least you know the trigger and Stator are good! Depending on how much you are willing to spend on this boat, I would replace the switch boxes and see if that helps. After that start replacing the coils. You want a engine that runs and you can count on if your out in the middle of the lake. You wouldn't skimp on your vehicle if it wasn't running right.

 

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

And you are absolutely sure that the plug wires are good and are not arching. Try running it in the dark with the cover off the engine and make sure the wires insulation is good and the spark is not bleeding out.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Yeah, the wires are brand new and I have ran her in the dark a couple of times when I was checking all of the connections. I have a couple of questions: 1 - So as long as the Stator and Trigger passed the manual's ohms test they should be good correct? 2 - Can the switchboxes be tested by me or a marine mechanic or do I have to drop a couple hundy and just cross my fingers that it works. 3 - I have rebuilt and checked the carbs and fuel pump, wired the harnesses with new wires, checked compression, checked fuel and air hoses, tested the stator and trigger. Is there anything else the would make the motor bogg completely out that I need to check? Thank you all so much for all of your help...I know with all of your help I am going to get this old beast running soon.

 

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Well NewYork I would have a repair shop check it out, let them find what needs to be replaced and you do all the labor of replacing the bad parts. Then have the repair shop do a link and sync. That way if you continue to have problems they will be required to fix it. Make sure they give you a warranty period for repairs, any good shop will.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Good plan, unfortunately the closest marina or marine repair shop is an hour away except for the BPS tracker repair and they said that they can't test a switchbox on that old of a Merc and their price for 1 box is $250, ouch, that is rediculous! It looks like I will just order some online, install them myself and hope for the best. Stay tuned...

 

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Check out this site. go2marine.com good prices, and they are in Tennessee and they ship really quickly.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

I originally was looking there for most of the replacement parts I wanted, but the iboats parts for my motor are actually cheaper and their warehouse is only 3 hours from me so I get the merchandise the next day. I actually hooked up with my buddies marine mechanic out of Parsons, KS via email and he has provided me a way to test the switchboxes for voltage to the coils. Since that is where I seem to be having issues I will check them tonight. He also advised that since I replaced most of the wiring between the coils and switchboxes I should be alright only replacing one switchbox if only one of them is bad. I just need to make sure to replace any wires inbetween the two boxes and their grounds to countetact any bias. We'll see how the test go and work from there. He has also given me a great Canadian parts seller off of eBay that sales these switchboxes for about $40 - $50. So I will go the cheap route at first and if I end up getting her running good then I have found a cheap and easy fix and if not, I will just dive in and replace everything with new parts. GO Big or GO Home, LOL.

 

[nativetexantim73]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

NewYork you the man! Let me know how it goes.

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Tracking shows that I won't have the new switchbox until about Monday so it looks like I will be playing the waiting game for now. I can't wait to get this dang thing fixed and in the water...I just pray that the switchbox is really the answer...

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

So I actually got the new switchbox today and installed it, but it is still running like crap. I have checked the compression, rebuilt the carbs, fuel pump, and put new switch boxes on. I checked the resistance on the Stator and Trigger, but even after I got the new switchbox on it today it still is bogging down really bad and as I throttle up it surges as well. Do you think that this is a Linc-n-sync and/or a timing problem or am I missing something else?

 

[bullbat]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

man new york this thing is givin you a fit aint it, im bout outta ideas other than maybe a coil or 2 breaking down under a load not producing hot enough spark.....

 

[dwyork@hotmail.com]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

I had checked all of the coils and they seemed to be working fine. BUT, today I tried to run her on the muffs without the rectifier and she purred like a kitten without any major misses and not bogging down. I am going to try and get her to the lake early in the week and see if she is going to run alright under a load and if so,then I buy a new rectifier and I have finally found my easy fix and if not it will be back to the drawing board and to my wallet.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Mercury Switchbox Wiring

Changing the sw boxes will tell that problem. Another item very often overlooked is the re-circulation hoses that run to the crankcase. They re circ the oil left in the engine. If one or more go bad, and at that engine age its possible, you will foul plugs and/or run lean. They are like 3/16 vacuum hoses.

Best thing for wires is buy a can of liquid electrical tape, use on any cracked insulation on wires. Dont touch or move any wires you dont need to. Common problem as they used a rubber insulation back then that doesnt last.

Another thought is timing pick up from the throttle. A link and sync issue.
If you have a broken item there you will not advance timing, which accounts as much toward acceleration as the carbs do.

That's my 2 cents worth, but it sounds like the other guy helping you knows what he is talking about.