78 yr mercury 80 hp won't start

[greg1028]

I've owned an 78 mecury 80 hp outboard for a couple of years now and it has been a solid engine the whole time.I've taken great care of this engine"maintenance and new parts" last week it failed to start. I put a new battery on it and t ran for a half of day and quit. I took it to the dealer and they found a shorted ground wire to the charging system. the engine ran great for a week and yesterday it failed to start again. I'm getting power from the battery because the starter turns but doesn't grab the flywheel.it's testing out at 12.8 volts<battery> any suggestions?

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: 78 yr mercury 80 hp won't start

That gear on the starter should spin up and down easily as you try to rotate it by hand. Spray some WD40 or some very light sray oil on the mechanism and free it up by working it back and forth a few times.