New to AOMC with a 1963 mercury 200

[Buccaneer]

Perhaps I just learned of a new use for my floor drill press!

Prepare to be boarded!

[JayzonAych]

nicholas soper wrote:

Thanks JayzonAych. Yes the coils have the yellow epoxy in them. That is precisely why I never attempted to remove them from the base plate and laminations when I was testing them previously. SO Far…. They seem to be working fine. I have the original coils and condensers in the motor now and it runs pretty well in the barrel if it gets some throttle]

Unfortunately, the motor is well past warranty at this point..haha The coils would be of concern from a reliability standpoint. There were internal wiring issues that caused them to short out. You may want roll the dice or replace them to be sure, that is your call. One of the 5 I have had still had the yellow epoxied originals and the were DOA. A friend of mine who was a long time mercury dealer told me of the issue with the “yellow epoxied” coils, and warranty replacements. The laminate cores are not intended to ever be removed from mag plate. The coils were replaced by pulling them off laminates. I just found a mag with good coils and replaced it all on the one I had. The mags that followed the “yellow epoxied” coils were actually quite reliable. I have never had a original condenser from one of these mags fail the mercotronic load test, I would estimate I have tested about 12-20 of them in past 10 years. Also, in all those cases, the coils were still good. I think I have a 65 9.8 powerhead with a good ignition that would work for you I could sell ya. The “yellow epoxied” coils only existed in last half of 1963 models

nicholas soper wrote:

, but really struggles as it drops down toward idle and trolling. I had attributed the rough idle to the leaking fuel line and misadjustment on my part. But that sounds like it may not be the case. So the chamber that provides back pressure relief for idle, is that the outlet port that is molded into the bottom/rear/center of the lower pan? It seems to have exhaust and some water coming out of it at times.

Yes, the snout cast into the rear of pan is the outlet for idle relief. At idle , basically all of the exhaust pressure would flow through there and yes water discharge also flows through . There is a fuel mixture screw for idle on that motor. Its at the top of carb throat. start somewhere around 1-1/4 turns out (cc) from lightly seating needle all the way in (cw) CC is enriching, CW is leaning. Generally I turn CW until is starts to cough slightly then CC until it smooths out, usually about 1/4 turn CC from when it started to run bad. If this seems to become impossible to get right that is when you should consider the other things I mentioned

nicholas soper wrote:

I also included a shot of my complicated way of testing the water pump. I had tried to use my cordless drill but the motor’s drive shaft was too large to fit into the chuck. So I hauled the drill press out of the back of the garage( assuming that I would manage to dump water everywhere) and loaded the lower gearbox and water pump into the drill press. It was a difficult way to test, but it worked like a charm.

Ha! Love it!! I have done this with smaller motors and a hand held drill

nicholas soper wrote:

I didn’t get a chance to work on the Mercury tonight as I went for ride on my other perpetual project…. a1971 Honda CL450. Apparently I have a thing for machines that need a lot of TLC.

Welcome to the club! I also like vintage MC but offroad. My daughter and I are beginning work on restoring a 79 Honda xr80, my first bike and now hers. I also have been working on a 1989 Kawasaki KX250 I hope to ride in vintage offroad events

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.

[nicholas soper]

Jazon,

I pulled the lower unit this weekend and replaced all of the rubber barrel seals around the intake water pipe and the water pipe running up the leg in an effort to ensure its getting water up to the powerhead. When I blow compressed air into the water pipe from the bottom( with the lower unit removed) I can feel a little bit of air coming out from the tell tale, but it seems like a lot is escaping into the leg. The seal at the top of water pipe feels good. Meaning when I stick the long water pipe back into its home at the top of the leg the seal seems to hold it pretty well.

Based on the sound of air escaping into the chamber of the leg, it seems like there is a leak in cooling system, hence the lack of good flow out the tell tale. Are there any other obvious locations for the pipe to leak besides the rubber grommet/ barrel seal at the top?

[nicholas soper]

Also in this second image of the fuel pump side of the engine there looks to be paint missing around the area where the crank case splits. Is this an indication that the seals on that side are leaking?

To my untrained eye it looks like the paint that would have been there has been eaten away along that seam.

Also I replaced the short fuel line between the fuel pump and carb. That quicksilver line is about a 1/4 inch too short and really puts a lot of pressure on the cone fixture inside of the fuel filter on the carb.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Mumbles.

[JayzonAych]

The majority of water discharge is directed into the main exhaust stream at base of engine block… I would not expect much air or water pressure to come out the snout or telltale without water filling the lower unit and mid section being submerged in water under normal circumstances of running the motor on a boat. Again, that muffler chamber in pan would only relief the pressure under these circumstances…. When the boats goes on plane the engine rises out of water to the anti-ventilation plate (aka cavitation plate) and the higher exhaust pressures clear the water out of exhaust housing and the pressure is nearly 100% out the prop hub. The point here is its all about back pressures.. When exhaust housing has higher water level in it, the back pressure is higher so water discharge and exhaust will pick paths of least resistance. I wouldn’t base it all with the telltale on that motor, like I said, prone to clogging. The fact that you are feeling some air pressure is a good sign…. Ultimately, the best test will be operating temperature. Depending on temperature of the water you are in, that motor will run fairly cool if all is right with your water pump since it predates the use of thermostats. Do you have a infrared thermometer? Run the motor and take periodic readings all over the engine and make sure is cooling is best advice I can give you until you build confidence… That motor will run in mid 100’s Fahrenheit if all is good… The key is to be below boiling, once boiling occurs, all hell breaks loose. These are the reasons annual water pump maintenance became recommended norm. Even modern tell tales get clogged, they are just less prone.

As far as the missing paint on block is concerned, that IS an area your particular motor can develop a leak where crankcase halves meet.. I’d say majority of mine leaked there…. My dealer friend pointed out to me there is a long span there from bolt to bolt, more than the others… He said later on later models they used the other cast in boss you will find there without holes or a bolt… However, your fuel line was also leaking so who knows… watch for it getting wet and bubbling since you replaced the fuel line…

Hope that all helps and doesn’t confuse.

[JayzonAych]

delete

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.

[JayzonAych]

….. Also, yes, that motor is a pain to start and check temps since recoil is in hood…. And that hood is a major PITA to get aligned and secured.. Its a learned trick but you can get it started and get the hood off and on with some patience … The most nerve racking part is when flywheel scrapes the side brackets in hood… Just kind of tilt hood forward at this point and clear the flywheel… Do some practicing engine not running with a flashlight.. This will be a trying time and influence you to do everything possible to get it idling good…. haha … trust me I have been there done that.

[20mercman]

You can rope start those with a manual rope with the top cowl off. I don’t usually try to remove the hood with them running as I am afraid of getting it wedged and causing an issue…. Especially if the motor is warmed up, they start easily enough to rope them over. There is a notch in the flywheel for a knot, but even in not, the tabs on the flywheel will hold a knot enough to do a quick rope start.

Steve

P.S. Great to see you posting again Jayzon!

[JayzonAych]

His does not have earlier Phelon with notch, in my experience the later does not lend itself to rope starting.. besides I have had the rope knot stick in notch before, engine start, and swing wood handle around like a medieval weapon.. got hit pretty good in head once… it is indeed what notch is for but for reason stated I don’t recommend. ..haha

I sold all of my merc 200s besides my nice 63. This topic drew me back in since it’s one of my favorites.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by JayzonAych.

[nicholas soper]

I took the old Starcraft and Mercury 200 out for it first lake run in at least 15 years tonight since the weather was pretty much ideal. 70 degrees and no wind. Its a pretty small “no wake” local lake so I kept things pretty slow since there were quite a few other boats around. I started with the fuel mixture screw at 1-1/4 turns out as Jayzon suggested. I couldn’t ever get the throttle to roll back to full stop idle without it dying. I tried adjusting the mixture screw CW a 1/4 turn to lean it and it dies at full idle. I tried to turn the mixture screw CCW a 1/4 turn to 1-1/2 turns out, enriching the mixture, and the same result. I wanted to do more testing, but with the cover off I was wrapping a wood handled starter rope around the tabs on the flywheel. Most of the time the knot would release and it would start pretty easily, but there was more than once when the knot didn’t release, and rope got wrapped back around the fly wheel as the engine tried to start. That seemed like it was getting kind of sketchy, so I just got it restarted and cruised around for a while.

Tell tale didn’t seem to be sending out much water, but the engine stayed cool. I kept reaching up and touching the upper cylinder when we were underway and it was only ever luke warm feeling. So that’s a good sign.

With the idle being so finicky, my fear that Jayzon is correct about needing to address the seals. I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

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