Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

[heroforlife911]

What a total PITA! I have been restoring my future father-in-laws Champion Bass Boat for the past year and finally broke the ice on the motor.:facepalm:

The motor is a big piece of ... Mercury 1150

Broke open the cover and started poking around. The wires are shot and fall apart at the touch. Decided to see if she would start anyways. First try was a no go caused by a dirty bendix drive on the starter. Cleaned it off and on the second try I got flywheel movement. By movement, I mean slightly turning without a start. The starter smelt like burnt toast; its original and prob needs replacing anyways.

I attempted to hand turn the flywheel and it was a little tight. Figured its cause it hasn't been cooking in about 3 years. My original though was to rebuild with the basics: carbs, fuel pump, water pump, starter, plugs, gear oil. HERE'S THE CATCH!!

I looked up the S/N online which says the motor is a 1977 HOWEVER; the power plant is defiantly not a 1977. No distributor on it and my guess is that it?s from around '79 based on my research. Not sure the best route for determining what serial number group to order new parts.

ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!

This pig is broke down to the lower end, power plant and exhaust extension sections.
Everything I listed as an intentional replacement have been removed ...

Thanks for the time!
Justin

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

What is the serial number and where did you get it from? If you got it off the transom mount look for a round plug on the motor with a serial number stamped in it and see if they match.

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

The boat and motor is my father-in-law's dad's old boat. His dad died several years ago and the boat was used by other family down in Branson MO. Apparently an uncle replaced the powerplant so I know it?s not the original.

Serial number is off the transom mount (mercury stamped plate) which is S/N#473**48
I looked on the motor for a number but didn't find much. Any specific area?

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=463484&p=3133750#post3133750

 

[carholme]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

911;

You can look on the powerhead for a disc like this:

http://img84.imageshack.us/i/391496208.jpg/

Gerry

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Roger that ... off to look!

Thanks Ger, you da man.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

I gotta say that your attitude towards this project is total negative.Before you even start looking for help on a Mercury forum your saying that you want it in Daveys locker.I almost did not want to respond but I will say that these are great motors. Wiring brittle? 30 plus years old and used extensivley, duh.Plugs.impellars,fuel pump.gear oil,carb rebuild, even starter motor are all consumable parts in any engine any year.I would take a more positive approach to get better results and replys.Better yet go buy a new motor for your future Father In Law and be a heroe.Maybe set you back 10 large but you will not have to deal with all this hassle for a few years anyway. Or take it to a marina and layout 500-1000 and it will be there problem.Lose the attitude and the" motor" will not be fighting you the whole way.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

i am pretty sure its a 1978 vintage as if I remember correctly they did not use that control box on 77 models.

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Winninggggggggggggggg!
Gerry deserves a case of beer, or six.
Thanks for all the replys ... Parts being ordered tonight, I'll let you know how that pans out.

 

[Prophammer]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

At the bottom of Hunter Lake?

 

[Prophammer]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

I had a mid 70's 115 merc, crispy wiring, anodes ate off, skeg worn off, etc, I abandoned it. I wish I had not, if nothing else it makes a nice decoration in the yard! (if you can get the wife to abide)

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Easy there Mr. 88 ... no need to douche out the situation. In fact I'm very positive, positive that your over reacting! I took on the boat knowing it would be hassle. But the sentimental value involved will be worth the hard work. The past week I have been frustrated to wits end with the motor but seriously now, come on. I called Mercury to see if they had some help in their back pocket and they said I was screwed. Luckily, there are a few guys who know whats up. I do believe I mentioned replacing the "consumables". So before you drop a friendly line, make sure I wasn't overly excited to hear some awesome news. For the record I wouldn't put it on the bottom of the lake let alone anything other than a Mercury on my boat.

Thanks for popping off at the jaw. Notes taken.

For everyone not being stupid about the situation, its a 1977 Mercury 1150 with a 1984 powerplant installed.

Officially positive.

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Yea ... that's a big fat negative on the lawn decor. HAHA Having the garage 100% boat for the last year blew any chances of that. I'm excited to get her going. I almost abandoned ship but after talking to a few of my friends I decided it will be worth the rebuild. I like the older motors from the Power Tower era.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

911. You live in area that has the best knowledge of these motors.
If you go to the right shop.

 

[mr 88]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

"Needs to find the bottom of lake"-total PITA-Big piece of ^%$#-The pig is broke down...Not my words...You may want to soak cylinders in Marvel mystery oil to help free her up.My 66 1100 SS is one sweet running machine as are the 2 65's of the same year.My 1973 50 is right there as well.Just treat em right and they will reward you,thats all I am saying.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Hero, OK you got it figured. Most all of the parts you will need should be ordered for the '84 component of that motor. There is not too much that is normally replaced, below the powerhead. The PTT (if you have it) is the old style with external pump and two cylinders.

Also, gearcases are pretty much standard on those inline sixes as well. Starters are universal, there are only a few different carbs. Jumper the starter and check compression. If good, replace the wiring or jury rig it so you can see if you have spark. Look on Maxrules.com for a wiring diaghram. Check gearcase oil to see that it is clear and not-milky. If gearcase checks out, get new carb gasket kits, floats and inlet needles and seats (~$40 or so), and clean and rebuild the carbs. Rebuild fuel pump, and water pump. Now fire it up

 

[1979checkmate]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

wow, so many bad vibes in this thread. I think that most of us with older motors can agree that sometimes, they are a PITA, i replaced the entire ignition system on my 79 inline 6 this winter, along with carb rebuilds and fuel pump rebuild. And yes, at times along the way it was a PITA to work on the thing, that doesn't mean i don't love the motor. At times, i though it would be nice for it to fall off the back of the boat and collect insurance. I really don't want this but frustrated minds think frustrated thoughts. I am pretty sure that most of us have cussed our motors when we cant diagnose what is wrong or it is doing funky stuff. and YES... even the grand ole MERCURY breaks down sometimes! haha. In the end, it is all just scrap metal. Long Live Mercury. So lets all just get along, back to the thread! Once you get the flywheel turned, check compression. As long as the mota has good compression, i would go ahead and replace the stator and trigger. Hold off on the switchboxes and coils, they can be replaced later, but may be fine anyway. I would replace any wiring that is brittle, this can be a fire hazard. For me the brittle wiring was from the stator, trigger, and internal wiring harness. (the only good wires were from switchboxes to coils). I fixed the stator and trigger wiring by replacing the units, but was able to rebuild the internal harness. Go ahead and grab a new rectifier too, chances are the one on the motor is bad.

 

[heroforlife911]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Thanks for all the input!!! Very good information guys. I plan on re-doing all of the electrical except the switch boxes. Everything on it seems to be worn out to the extremes. Besides, if I have the thing torn apart now I would much rather drop the dime and do it now rather than ... whenever they decide to retire. Hopefully not out on the lake, tow bills in Michigan are like an extra mortgage payment depending on who you call and where you?re at. I'm excited to get her going!

The lower end oil was dark dark black and the consistency of regular motor oil. No milk or nasty stuff, however there were a few tiny burs of metal on the magnet plug. I don't know how long ago the stuff was changed out and not sure if that?s kind of normal.

Parts List:
Starter
Internal Harness
Solenoid
Rectifier
Solenoid
Coils
Plug Lines
Spark Plugs
Stator
Trigger
Carb Kits
Fuel Kit
Water Pump Kit

Would I have to re-time and sync after replacing all of the stated electrical? I will be removing the flywheel.
Currently contemplating replacing ALL the gaskets on the powerplant, they are pretty bad. I'm hoping that it would assure good compression. I'm also curious to see how the guts look.

 

[merc850]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Here's one on ebay for $750 23hrs. left...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...3250672QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear
or if you want to go to CA and pick it up $500 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...5687259QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

Filings on the magnetic plug are normal. Just change the gear oil and you are likely OK.

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Mercury 1150 ... Needs to find the bottom of the lake!

You will have to redo the link and sync, mainly because you will be removing the carbs to rebuild them. None of the electrical stuff affects the link and sync. You will have to time the engine when you are all done, if for no other reason than you do not know what the timing was set to when the power head was replaced. The timing should be set to 20 degrees max to accommodate todays gas. Michigan has ethanol in the fuel now so you should put a water filter before the engine to eliminate problems from that end. Check your compression as others have said, free up the pistons with Marvel Mystery oil, give it a chance to work. Pull the plugs out and remove the intake covers. You will be able to see the condition of the piston skirts and the cyl walls.