1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

[Buzz Killington]

First, let me say thank you to dozens of posters who have helped others troubleshoot their motors. I have been voraciously reading old posts on this forum for a couple weeks and today I took a day off determined to get my new-to-me 140hp 1400 running. I have never owned a boat before but used to play around with vintage BMWs (2002s, a 3.0s, an M6, etc). I love the classic look of this big honking thing hanging off the back of the boat and can't wait to get it repainted.

As background:

- came with a '68 Thunderbird (I think Formula)
- PO said when it ran for him it bogged quickly
- has Mercontrol (which I opened, degreased of its President Ford-era goop, cleaned, and re-assembled)
- never started for PO this year, or me
- I took every single wire/connection/terminal and inspected/Dremeled clean/taped/replaced as necessary (and MAN was it necessary)
- new battery
- inspected and cleaned plugs, shot some Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder and turned over by hand
- new battery terminal connections (this was actually the killer as far as I can tell, they were utter trash/rust)

Anyway, I got it going today on muffs and now it idles. My question is, where should the throttle (I believe the right-hand lever on the Mercontrol) be when I'm running it out of the water? It will run in the middle, but will stumble...when I back it off more it dies...when I push it forward it runs better. I don't want to overrev it, but to my ear it does not seem to be running that fast even with the throttle forward.

My next chore is to try and get the tach to work, which I will tackle now.

Also - and as a reasonably fair gear head, I am embarrassed to ask - WHERE is the oil drain plug/fill on this thing? I have 30 weight outboard oil waiting to go in.

Finally - does anyone run lead additive?

Thank you very much and I look forward to many posts here, hopefully only about how well she runs

Dave

 

[Wellwater]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

To start have you cleaned your carbs and made sure everything is good there? I would also put some new plugs and wires on the distributor. Be carefull you dont want to rev that thing too high out of the water with no load .
If you have a 72 1400 it is a 2 stroke motor and does not have oil in the crankcase , the engine gets its lubrication from the 2 stroke oil you mix with the gas.
The only lube would be in the lower unit gearcase and that would be on the bottom of that , there is a vent plug that looks the same on the upper part of that gearcase.
Drain out then refill with Merc gearcase lube by getting a small pump with a hose on a quart jug, and fill till you see lube comeing out of the upper vent hole.

 

[Buzz Killington]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

I emailed the last owner who had this thing running and he had the carbs rebuilt 2 years ago. I sprayed them for good measure.

Re: oil, now I feel like I asked a "where is the blinker fluid" question I mixed it a little more than 50:1 since this thing has been sitting for a while.

And from further reading it seems like the Mercontrol is working OK and that the throttle will increase as its put in gear and moved along with the cammed "roller" inside the unit.

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

Yeah, if you will have someone work the left lever while you stand at the motor with the cowl off, it will give you a much better idea of what is happenning. As you move the gear selector forward (or backward), it opens up the throttle AND begins to advance the timing at the same time. The right hand lever is throttle only.

Get the tach fixed ASAP, wellwater is right, you should not run it above 1500 RPM while on muffs (NEVER run it dry, in case no one has told you...) it can lose water and that ruins the impeller. Which, if you don't already know, you should replace anyway. You don't know how old it is, and they are cheap and reasonably easy to install.

The other piece of advice you will hear over and over is buy the manual. All the guys on here will tell you to buy the Mercury Manual. I bought a Clymer, but am in the process of buying the Merc one now. It is much more detailed. (Of course it is twice the price! LOL)

Best of luck!

 

[cannonford57]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

hey buzz,one item you mentioned was the wiring,the internal harnesses are notorius for falling apart after 20 or 30 years just like the rest of us...aftermarkets are still available about 160.00 or so,good luck

 

[Buzz Killington]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

Thanks for the help guys.

I got undernearth the dash last night (with my 6 year old daughter handing me tools I "needed" ) and all the terminals are corroded and the wiring is garbage. I'm tearing it all out and dremeling the contacts and redoing it.

The previous-previous owner redid the wiring harness from scratch and he seems to have done a pretty good job. It's holding up well.

 

[scotthibbs68]

Re: 1972 Merc 1400, new owner, few questions

I have one of these as well. I cant get any fire. is there a way to test the coil and switch box?