coincidence or did i cause this,

W

wellcraftv20step

Senior Member
Hey all , A while back I picked up a beautiful 22 Imp walk around with a 5.0 mercruiser Alpha 1 for my son in law, I started it for the first time last week and it started and ran great then I started it a couple days later and it ran perfect again. Here's the rub . I decided to do a compression test and all cyl,s registered about 150 ,so now I put the plugs back in and I cant start the engine. No spark at the thunderbolt iv v8 22 ignition module. my question is could this have been caused by the constant cranking of the compression test or is it just coincidence, and I did change rotor, cap, plugs and coil
 
First, check the kill switch on the shifter, make sure you didn't flip it off or pull on the cord, reset it and know you're good. Then jiggle the shifter and retry, you may have activated the shift switch that shorts out the ignition so the drive will come out of gear.If that didn't fix it, pull the cap off and make sure nothing broke, its easy to not push the rotor all the way down and the first time you spin it over, it breaks something. After that, try this http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/83/83_24.pdf
 
Thanks so much Spare, I changed out the Rotor cap and coil after it would not start just because I would have done that as regular maintenance anyway, and I actually found and followed that series of test you suggested and that's how I came to conclusion that I need the ignition module. However I will try that shift control idea !!!!
 
Spare, i got a used thunderbolt ignition module and still no spark,finally i found the problem it was a short in the wiring harness coming out of the module. Running great now. now onto the outdrive. thanks as allways
 
I see that when I start her warm I need to put the throttle full forward or wide open, she sputters for a second then clears rite up. any suggestions.
 
sooooo, last night I put the drive on the boat with no issues . I then start the engine and I notice as I am going from neutral into forward and reverse their is no change in sound , I put the shifter in neutral and take a look at the drive to find that it is in gear. Forward I believe from memory ! Shift cable..... Outdrive..... Or throttle . now I"ll be at work all day stewing over this one. What should I be looking for ,thanks
 
when you puut the drive back on did you have the drive in forward gear and the shift lever pushed fully forward? That's presuming you removed the drive from the bell housing
 
Thanks Liam, yes I had the drive in forward. I watched a youtube video at 4 this morn on shift cable adjustment, went out and followed his directions and it was way out of adjustment now it seems to begoing into reverse forward and neutral now by just spinning the prop. Its much to early yet to start her up . This is pretty much normal stuff when you buy a used boat. I am assuming I will still have some issue because why would the shift cable be so far out of adjustment to begin with :head:
 
I stated her up today and the prop was disengaged as I had hopped. Put the throttle forward and sure enough she went in gear ,but I still heard no momentary cut out from the shift interrupt switch and when I put it in reverse she stalls, back to the drawing board
 
First, get the engine running, disconnect both cable from the shift plate and manually shift it from fwd to reverse(using the cable to the drive) making sure it will go both ways(engine running prop spinning), then put the cable in full forward position. Set the length from the center of the barrel to the center of the eye end on the cable to 6 inches. You will have to hold some pressure on the cable to keep it in full forward gear while you measure it. Don't change anything on this cable from here on. Put the shift cable on the shift plate in its original position(closest to the pivot point of the arm). Engine still running, use the shift arm to move the cable back and forth, still making sure you get forward and reverse. Then put it in forward, move the shifter to forward position and adjust the shift cable from the shifter to align with the shift plate. Now think about the shifter being a clock, with the handle straight up for neutral(12 o'clock) you want forward to go in by 10:30 and reverse by 1:30. Adjust the cable from the shifter to the shift plate to change this, do not change the cable to the drive from its original 6 inch measurement. If it moves too quick(11:30-12:30) you can lessen the amount of movement by changing the cable end in the slot on the arm
 
Spare, I followed your directions to the letter. Perfection !! I went very well but obviously you knew it would. she is gioing in and out of gear with ease and at the rite points on the gear selector what would we do without ya.:beer: now I have to change the pump in the lower unit and I can splash her....
 
Next thing is to check the shift switch on the shift plate. You can manually operate the switch by pushing on the spring loaded v plate. It should activate when the roller on the switch gets right at the top of the v. Meaning it will shut the engine off at that point. Check it both ways bend the arm on the roller to adjust it
 
Spare,I got the shift interrupt switch adjusted, everything seems to be working very well now. I have noticed that the temp gauge has not gone above 125 degrees. Iwill change the thermostat today or tomorrow. if I remember it should idle at around 150 or so.
 
I was walking by the boat yesterday and noticed gear oil leaking rite around the anti cavitation plate, seems like it could be coming from the shift shaft area. never experienced this one before. what kind of a job am I looking at on this one ,or is it the kind of thing where I should just pull the drive and get it checked out ??
 
shift shaft seal, not a biggie, drop the lower like you're going to put a water pump in. Buy the special tool to remove the shift shaft bushing, its not that much, screw the old bushing out, screw the new one in. Look at the seal surface on the shift shaft, if its worn, replace the shift shaft(pulls straight out once the bushing has been removed). The older ones were steel and corroded, the newer ones are stainless. Look at the splines on the end of the shaft as well, if they are eroded, replace the shaft. Put a water pump in while you have it apart
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top