50hp Merc won't start

[SinDale]

I put a 1983 classic 50hp merc on my boat last night. All went well, fired up just fine, idled well, and decided to dunk it in for the inaugural ride. It ran great! After cruising for a few minutes, decided to pin down a few cuz the bow was bouncing too much. Shut it down, moved the pin, went to turn the key again, and nothing! 20 minutes of messing around with every wire, nut, screw, connection, fuse that I could find, NOTHING! No click or noise, fish finder still read 11.7v's even. Any ideas?

FYI: Paddling from the 104 bridge to the state launch in I-Bay is tiring, and takes about 45 minutes!

[Landshark]

quick question, was she pumping aqua? was the ol' gal peeing? If not you might have overheated it. When you turned the key it made no noise at all? If so, it's probably something eelctrical. New battery?, one you charged before you went out?

[Tim Bromund]

11.7v sounds way low. you should be showing 12.3-12.5V minimum. I'm guessing either a bad battery or the charding system on the motor isn't working and you running it in a dischange mode killed the battery to a point where it doesn't have the guts to turn the engine over.

Tim

[jimski2]

Did you have the contol lever in neutral?

[SinDale]

It was peeing lightly, but only ran for maybe 2 minutes as well. Just bought a new battery last night since the old one was 4yrs. old and even after fresh charge only 12.3. Goofed with throttle alot to make sure what clicked as neutral actually is. This is odd: turned key in driveway, nothing. Trailered it over to a friends house to see what he thought, turned key and it fired. Took a step back to laugh, turned key again, dead.... I'm thinking there's a worn wire somewhere...

[Mike Plotner]

I had that prob a few years ago turned out to be a cracked wire on my quick discinnect to the battery . Also freind of mine had that problem and he had a bent connector to the battery so it wasnt getting a good conection .

Good luck

Mike

[SinDale]

Thanks! I'll go digging...

I got a PM that said if I can't figure out where its being disrupted that I could put a manual switch that connects the 2 sides of the starter soilnoid, basically bi-passing the ignition switch.

However, I'd rather fix the problem than put a band-aid on it.

[SinDale]

Found my answer. Bad fuse harness! Fuse was fine, but no juice running out of it. Now that I replaced it, it starts right up every time. Now I have an overheating issue. I haven't run into trouble yet, but the water coming out of the stream is practically evaporating out of it, and is an inconsistent stream. I guess I'll bring it in. I was hoping it would treat me well fishing in the islands starting Friday...

[SinDale]

I forgot to wrap this up... Hank (L&M) in Port Bay replaced the water pump, impeller, and reverse gear while he was in there. Motor's running perfect and cool, and I can't say enough good things about him! He got to work on it the next day and I picked it up on my way to the Islands! The electrical issue came back while I was on vacation, and so i replaced the starter sellinoid when i got back to Rochester. Now it starts up perfectly too!

Thanks again Hank!

[L&M]

Not a problem Shane. Just glad you and the family had a good vacation. Was good to meet you, the wife and your son. By the way tell her the kitten has been adopted to a good home and the Tasmanian Devil ( the white one that was going to do serious damage ta me) is resting peacefully on my couch. Neet little sh*t. Never kn it was the same one.