I recently acquired this motor from my brother in law. He had it on his boat and said it ran fine when he used it. He got rid of the boat and gave me the engine. It has been sitting in his garage from at least a year, but it was kept upright. I brought it back with me in the back of my truck so it was laid down for the 4 hour trip. I now have it on my boat and tried to start it today but it isn't cooperating. It turns over but so far it just sits there cranking but never actually starts. It sounded like it was about to once, but nothing after that. Anything I can do or I should check that may be causing a problem. I'm no mechanic but I always manage to do my own work on my motorcycle and cars unless its something major, so I'm not totally ignorant.
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1969 Merc 200 20 hp
- Thread starter cybereyes
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ben2go
Well-known member
Is it a tiller steer motor?Have you checked the kill/off switch?Are you getting spark?If not,is there power getting to the engine.I'm not sure if that motor needs power to the coils or if it's a magneto type set up.
ben2go said:
It is a tiller steer. I haven't checked the kill switch other than to ensure that it wasn't pushed in and stuck there. I didn't check the spark, didn't think of it, I did glance at the spark plug by pulling the cap off, and it looked like a fairly new plug, I figured tomorrow i will pull it out and replace it just for heck of it, and while I'm at it I can check for spark. I considered even replacing the line going from the gas tank to the engine thinking it may be clogged up or something.
Macgyver
Well-known member
I worked on one a buddy has that sat for a year. had to pull the carb , clean it real good and check all the wiring as all the insulation was brittle and cracking. rewired it and slapped the carb back on she runs great.
I will try that, If I can find the carb. The engine looks pretty compact. If I can't get it running after the obvious checks with the replacement of the plug and the fuel line, then I will try and break it down further. I have nothing to lose I guess, the engine was free.
rome8899
Well-known member
Read my post under SCORE!!!!!!! before you put to much money in this motor please, thanks Scott
So today I checked for spark and that was fine, I then took out the plugs and looked at them and they were looking a little too black for my liking, so I went and got some new plugs. Once I put those in it immediately started sounding a bit better when trying to start, and after about 15 minutes of cranking I finally got it running. It sounds real good. My sister said it hadn't been started in about 4 years. I didn't realize it had been that long, but now that I have it running I have a nice 20 hp engine for free. Can't beat it.
Zum
Well-known member
4 years,I can't beleive theres know carb/gas troubles.
Great gift.
Great gift.
Ok I have another question about this motor. When I was trying to start it before, I was unaware of the special qualities of a "cranking" battery, so I was using one of my deep cells. Before I replaced the spark plug it would turn the engine over for quite a while but eventually only lasted about 10 mins of trying. I then replaced the plug and grabbed the other battery, thinking either it took an extremely large amount of battery power to crank the engine and it was draining it that quick, or I had a bad battery. Well this battery stopped turning the engine over even quicker. When It would stop turning the engine over it would be nothing but a single click sound as if there just wasn't enough juice to turn the engine completely over. So I starting trying to pull start it until I eventually got it.
So now I have a brand new cranking battery. I bought the largest one they had and slow charged it at 2 amps over night. I took the boat out the next day to water test it and then tried to crank the engine using the new battery. I got nothing. Barely even a click. So I starting trying to pull start it again, and after about 5 mins I got it started again, and I ran it around the little pond I was on for about 10 mins. So whats wrong with my electric start? Is there a starter solenoid in there that could have gone out?
My next question is about all the fluids that come out of this engine when I turn it off. I know 2 cycle engines are known for being dirty and dropping oil and gas, and are banned from some lakes, but my engine seems to drop an excessive amount, at least what I would call excessive. It seemed like it dropped an unusually large amount of nasty stuff into the water when i turned it off. I'm not an environmental freak, but I try to avoid doing stuff unnecessarily, and I felt kind of bad after seeing all that stuff come out. Could there be some seals or gaskets in there that need replacing that would help this? If so, where on earth would I find them at for a 1969 engine? Anyone ever seen a place to get a maintenance guide for something this old, like a schematic break down type thing? Thanks guys.
So now I have a brand new cranking battery. I bought the largest one they had and slow charged it at 2 amps over night. I took the boat out the next day to water test it and then tried to crank the engine using the new battery. I got nothing. Barely even a click. So I starting trying to pull start it again, and after about 5 mins I got it started again, and I ran it around the little pond I was on for about 10 mins. So whats wrong with my electric start? Is there a starter solenoid in there that could have gone out?
My next question is about all the fluids that come out of this engine when I turn it off. I know 2 cycle engines are known for being dirty and dropping oil and gas, and are banned from some lakes, but my engine seems to drop an excessive amount, at least what I would call excessive. It seemed like it dropped an unusually large amount of nasty stuff into the water when i turned it off. I'm not an environmental freak, but I try to avoid doing stuff unnecessarily, and I felt kind of bad after seeing all that stuff come out. Could there be some seals or gaskets in there that need replacing that would help this? If so, where on earth would I find them at for a 1969 engine? Anyone ever seen a place to get a maintenance guide for something this old, like a schematic break down type thing? Thanks guys.
Well I think I found a place to buy parts, just need an idea of what to replace, and hopefully I can find some sort of manual somewhere. I'm not a mechanic, but I have done a lot to engines myself just using a manual.
Loggerhead Mike
Well-known member
with a motor thats sat that long it sounds like you may have some corrosion issues. check the wiring and make sure everythings clean at the connections especially the wires on your starter. your going to have to disconnect the connections to check them. a little tiny bit of corrosions enough resistance to "open" the wire. if you find some hit it with a wire brush or fine file untill the metal looks new again. if your getting a good spark you can rule out your points ect ect. start with your battery wires and trace them back
the starting issue sounds like you had a clogged jet. i'd put some seafoam in the gas and run a tankfull threw it in a bucket before taking it to a lake. evaporated gas is a pita to clean out 100%. the best way is to just run the piss out of it untill the new gas cleans it up. a carberator is only a bucket with a hole in it (a controlled drip ).
pull the cover off and look for trace signs of oil. it shouldnt be hard to find. probably comming from your cylinder head gasket, seems pretty commin for old motors. bolts dont like to stay torqued in aluminum. if you find your bad gasket replace it and put some locktite on the bolts. be carefull not to overtorque them
another note, if you plugs are dirty just clean them with a wire brush, no need to replace um. its commin with a 2stroke
sounds like you got a heck of a deal. dont be discouraged, those are all common problems with a motor thats sat, and wont be hard to get rite
the starting issue sounds like you had a clogged jet. i'd put some seafoam in the gas and run a tankfull threw it in a bucket before taking it to a lake. evaporated gas is a pita to clean out 100%. the best way is to just run the piss out of it untill the new gas cleans it up. a carberator is only a bucket with a hole in it (a controlled drip ).
pull the cover off and look for trace signs of oil. it shouldnt be hard to find. probably comming from your cylinder head gasket, seems pretty commin for old motors. bolts dont like to stay torqued in aluminum. if you find your bad gasket replace it and put some locktite on the bolts. be carefull not to overtorque them
another note, if you plugs are dirty just clean them with a wire brush, no need to replace um. its commin with a 2stroke
sounds like you got a heck of a deal. dont be discouraged, those are all common problems with a motor thats sat, and wont be hard to get rite
I bought some of the seafoam stuff at lunch, and I will check those connections when I get home and see if I can find where all the leaking is coming from. I know everytime I grab the bottom to lift the motor up when I'm moving it. I get it all over my hands.
When you say run a whole tank through in a bucket, how much are we talking about? I have a 6 gallon tank, and I'm guessing on this engine it will run for a while on 6 gallons.
When you say run a whole tank through in a bucket, how much are we talking about? I have a 6 gallon tank, and I'm guessing on this engine it will run for a while on 6 gallons.
ben2go
Well-known member
If you're having a lot of fuel/oil mix in the water,it could be the wrong mix ratio or the carb(s) floats are hanging open.I agree with the corrosion on the wiring causing the electric start to fail.It could also be gummed up bearings and starter gear.Most auto electric repair places can rebuild old outboard starters.A lot of them used common size bearings and seals.
Yeah I had no idea what mix ratio to use either. I did a search and basically just went with the most common answer for most older motors that size. I can't even remember now what it was to be honest. If I looked at the chart on the oil bottle I may remember. I would say its highly likely the carb could be gummed up considering its age and how long it sat. When I get a chance to dig in to it a bit hopefully I can follow a trail of oil to my problem. I hope its not the carb because I hate dealing with carb issues. They are so touchy. My only experience there would be on some dirt bikes when I was younger.
