Wire Rot on 1979 StarCraft SS Mercury 800 80hp

[sje0123]

1979 Starcraft SS Mercury 800 OB 80HP

I've got terrible wire rot on the boat I just bought. I have fixed it up enough by recoating some wires and splicing in new lengths to feel comfortable with it thru the end of the season. The current wire coatings are so brittle you cannot bend the wires without losing several inches of insulation.

I am very comfortable with wiring (solder, crimping, whatever it may be) but am very new to marine wiring. I'd imagine very little is different from a boat to a car or anything else other than the type of wire.

I've got rot on pretty much every wire on the boat from my splash well on back. My main engine power and grounds are even rotten. Much corrosion has entered most of the wires within my outboard and it just eating it all away.

My question for you is, on a stator and trigger how are wires run from them? Are there ring terminals on these items? If not is it easy to solder new wiring to them? I'd like to "rebuild" the harnesses but cannot justify the cost of all new parts when there is nothing wrong with the ones currently there.

Also, my boat side harness and internal engine harness, is there any way to service these plugs and run new wire from them? I'd imagine I'd have to cut them in half to access the wires, but how does it look inside? Is this a reasonable thing to rebuild? For me to replace everything with brand new parts would be roughly $700+. That's just insane to me when the only thing failing is the wire insulation. I'd think I could rewire everything on my own for the cost of a few feet of wire and some terminals.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[sje0123]

Re: Wire Rot on 1979 StarCraft SS Mercury 800 80hp

no help?

 

[barry light]

Re: Wire Rot on 1979 StarCraft SS Mercury 800 80hp

Had a 79' 40 hp Merc that was my dad's and had not been run in close to 15 years. Wire insulation was brittle, even gone on a lot of wiring. Copper wire had even turned solid green with corrosion all way up into stator and other componets ( had no spark). With good compression, I decided to replace the electrical components with the deteriorted wires. I did have to spend a few hundred dollars though. Seemed to get the best deal from CDI electronics on the parts. Free shipping and got them quickly. They even responded quickly with email question I had when connecting the parts. You can try splicing as you mentioned, but I think these type electrical components don't work well or maybe not at all with splicing. I am no mechanic ( mechanically inclined though). I changed these parts, cleaned carb, replaced a few small deteriorated hoses, and motor runs like a scalded dog!

 

[NYBo]

Re: Wire Rot on 1979 StarCraft SS Mercury 800 80hp

Soldering, especially in areas of high vibration like at the motor, is a bad idea. The wires will tend to break just past the where the solder ends. If you have enough good wire left to use crimp connectors, that's the only good way to splice the wires, IMO.