98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start now

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

wrong pic above...try this one...

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

I havent come across that control before, someone id say will of.
But try pushing that button down the bottom of the lever and moving the lever into forward.
On some mercs you push in a button and move the throttle lever forward, this acts as the warm up lever as pushing the button in stops it going into gear. Also look for other buttons on the control that could do that. Or try pulling the control towards you ie 90degrees to forward movement, towards the middle of the boat with button pressed

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

Im getting sure that that button about an inch from the bottom of the lever will do it.

 

[pinellas50]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

Isn't that a 2+2 motor? It looks identical to my 96. There is no choke if so, only the enrichening circuit which on mine is activated by pushing the ignition key in. Each push sprays some fuel into the carbs.

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

Yes....mine does have the enrichening when you push in the key (i always thought it was the choke). I do use it when its cold.....usually just the first start of the day. And yes, I can push the button on bottom of lever to free it from gear and rev it if needed. Keep in mind I have never used that before as it has always started just fine even on days when it was below 40 degrees outside....yes i'll go fishing in any weather..lol. So should I be using the "warm-up" lever on start? And not sure what the "2+2 motor" is. Just to note....I tried about 5-6 time throughout the day yesterday to start and everytime it started immediately....no issues at all. So....I'm thinking I have a short/bad wire somewhere or the kill switch needs replaced. Does anyone know if and when a kill switch goes out will it completely fail or can it be intermittent? Thanks guys....Ive got a tournament this Sunday and Im a little nervous about getting to far from the ramp and then it not wanting to start.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

I think you will find that all you need to do is use that warm up lever and it will start for you fine, all it will do is increase rpm and give a bit more fuel and or timing advance at start up which will make it start a lot easier and it will clear any partial flooding if you have used the choke. At present it is starting fine as you are just on muffs without much back pressure.

Mine would not start without the warmup lever if i had let it sit for more than about a minute or two.

 

[pinellas50]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

2+2 means the motor is designed to idle on only 2 cylinders and the other 2 kick in when the rpm increases. There is no traditional choke on these motors, just the enrichening circuit. Pushing the button on the base of the control allows you to disconnect the lower unit linkage from the throttle.......so you can rev the engine but the lower unit stays in neutral. Bosunsmate is talking about the same thing though.

With the kill switch, you could have a bad connection on a wire anywhere throughout the circuit. I had issues with the main harness connection which connects the motor to all with wiring going away from the motor. It is the large, black plastic cylinder looking thing found at the bottom of the motor under the cowl on the starboard side. I don't know if the switch itself could fail intermitently as you are asking.

My suggestion is you need to go back and confirm the no spark diagnosis as described earlier. You could also bypass the kill switch for testing purposes only.

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

ok....it is suppose to be raining heavily here until later this week so I will try testing the kill switch and checking for spark again.......probably not until thursday or friday so stay tuned. I have a tournament on Sunday and planned to pre-fish on Saturday so again stay tuned. I hope I get it figured out and I hope the info ends up helping someone else. Updates to come later this week.....

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

well....it wouldnt start so I didnt get to pre-fish today (sat). Tournament is tomorrow so it looks like I wont make it! Thats alot of points to lose on the series....aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....this sucks!

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

ok....I think I found the problem....maybe. While racking my brain and just observing and inspecting VERYTHING...I noticed what looked like something melted near the recitifier and actually dripped down on the carb cover....see pic

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

Is it shorting out on the metal around there?
You could try insulating it somehow.
Im not sure if a broken rectifier would cause a non start situation

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

so I pulled the rectifier (i think thats what it is and wow!@ look at that! looks like it got so hot that it cracked and started melting and dripped out the bottom! So....with tournament less than 12 hours from now...here are the concerns/questions. 1) could this be my problem with intermittent starting problems? Although the last two days it wont start at all. 2) Can I remove the entire unit and run it that way? I "think" the rectifier is just for the charging sytem and if thats true I thought about taking it out for tomorrow...... but ONLY if that wont cause more problems. I have 4 batteries on boat and cables (with many anglers to help) if needed so Im not worried about dead batteries....just dont want to hurt anything else. Either way I am ordering on today as I know it needs replaced.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

Since it wont start at all have you removed a sparkplug, grounded it and looked for spark?
I still dont know how it would cause non starting but the engine still runs after its started. Maybe theres some overload feature it trips at start up only or something

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

yes, i did try that....twice....but still cant see a spark. But again.....every so often it will start. If and when it starts again I will turn it of and immediately check for a spark. Then go from there. I just wonder what caused the rectifier to burn out and also if it is possible (and safe) to completely remove rectifier to see if it will start. Maybe it being burned out is closing a circuit and preventing it from starting....not sure what direction to go at this point.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

You have an outboard. There IS a fast idle feature. Wet plugs indicates no spark. But your methods of testing are suspect at best. Just because you have a chunk of metal to lay the plug on does make it a ground. There must be a connection between the plate and the engine block. so skip the metal plate and scratch some paint off one of the bolts. Or make a short wire with an clip on each end. One end on the shell of the plug, clip the other end on any ground. Hot starter says connections or starter issue but that does not prevent the engine from running.

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

ok.....went back out after reading your post Silvertip....I DO have a fast idle...I found it the other day. I tried to start it first before looking for a spark again. Whata-ya-no...it started! So I pulled each plug 1 at a time and found a good spark. I tried again to start it and it did so....?

 

[bankbuster]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

just to note...the only thing I did between the last 2 days that it wouldnt start and tonight when it started was removed and then re-installed the rectifier. I JUST put the rectifier back on so I could do the spark plug test and thats when i thought I would try to start it just for the heck-of-it.....it started right up and thats the first time its started in 2 days

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

See if its charging your battery, AC current wont
Well, are you going to go out fishing then?

 

[Lone Duck]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

ok....I think I found the problem....maybe. While racking my brain and just observing and inspecting VERYTHING...I noticed what looked like something melted near the recitifier and actually dripped down on the carb cover....see pic

What is that black wire on the bolt on the white box? Looks like a very very bad ground.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: 98 Mercury 115 hp starter, battery, solenoid, issues. HELP it wont even start no

i thought that was from you removing it.
If its on a bolt then its a ground and that one aint a good ground.