8hp Mercury left me stranded

[-CN-]

I recently bought this motor for my 14 ft jon. I was told it's a 2006. While I'm not positive of that, it looks exactly like the one pictured. Maybe somebody knows?

I've run this motor enough now that I can confirm it runs excellent. Burned through a gallon and a half of fuel. It always starts on one pull, and idles smooth.
The part that broke has me flustered, since it was a 2 mile mission with a 55lb trolling motor on a half-charged battery with a cross wind to get back to my car. Any guesses how long that took? What had happened was when I shut the engine down I left it in gear and just pressed the stop engine button on the end of the tiller handle. This way I can just tilt the motor up as I fish with the trolling motor (has to be in gear to tilt it up). I've done this before (I think). Don't know if shutting it down in gear caused this problem or not. I went to start the engine again, lowered it down, and went to twist the handle to put it in neutral. When I twisted the handle there was zero resistance. The handle just spun freely. I could not shift into neutral. Even though I could remove the cover and operate the throttle by hand, that did me no good since I couldn't start the engine as it was in gear. I fiddled with the handle, pushing in, pulling out, slowly turning, pinching it tight and turning, all trying to "hook up" with the control mechanism. Nothing worked. What has happened to my tiller handle?

 

[perchjerker]

that looks older than a 2006. looks more like a 1996

google it and look at the images. I had a 2004 15hp 4 stroke and even though its not the same the lettering on mine looks like whats in the pics.

Anyway, I would take the model / serial number and look it up on Marine engine.com and see what comes up for starters.

actually I found that exact image on google images says its from a kijji and its a 1987

 

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Upon looking again, that image isn't exactly right.

Here's my motor:

Also, after removing some screws, it became very obvious what the problem is. The shaft inside the handle sheared off.

 

[turbotodd]

I once had an 8 hp and a 9.8hp Mercury. Both were good motors. Then I had a 90hp Mariner (same as Merc but had oil injection). Decent motor. Those 3 never left me stranded.

Then I had a 15hp. And a 4 hp. And a 3.5hp. And 2 different 25hp Mercs. All were absolutely unfixable without spending a ton of money on them. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Especially the 3.5. I bought it to re-sell. Got it going, tested it several times at the lake and it ran great once it was started. Little cold natured but the choke took care of that until it was warm (about 30 seconds of running). Sold it to a guy, big ol' boy. He loved it. He was fishing a local lake, in a 1232 tinny (he was honestly too big for the boat), storm brewed up and rolled in, water got really rough. Motor wouldn't start and he was out in the middle with no trolling motor, just a paddle. Did his best to paddle to the shoreline but about a mile and a half of paddling it hard on an old man. Waves overturned the boat, water rough, old guy didn't make it. They found his body 4 days later at the back of the lake. I still feel horrible about it, keep thinking I sold him a motor that wouldn't start reliably.

And on that note I will never own another Mercury unless someone gives it to me; and even then I'd have to think hard about it.

 

[-CN-]

Well I determined that the sheared shaft could not be fixed reliably. Sought out parts and concluded that the whole tiller arm assembly is what I need to replace. I found one on ebay complete with kill switch, wires, and throttle cables for a hundred. Installation looks to be pretty simple. Not what I was planning on spending a hundred on on this boat!

 

[perchjerker]

could be worse

you know what boat stands for

break out another thousand

 

[perchjerker]

I once had an 8 hp and a 9.8hp Mercury. Both were good motors. Then I had a 90hp Mariner (same as Merc but had oil injection). Decent motor. Those 3 never left me stranded.

Then I had a 15hp. And a 4 hp. And a 3.5hp. And 2 different 25hp Mercs. All were absolutely unfixable without spending a ton of money on them. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Especially the 3.5. I bought it to re-sell. Got it going, tested it several times at the lake and it ran great once it was started. Little cold natured but the choke took care of that until it was warm (about 30 seconds of running). Sold it to a guy, big ol' boy. He loved it. He was fishing a local lake, in a 1232 tinny (he was honestly too big for the boat), storm brewed up and rolled in, water got really rough. Motor wouldn't start and he was out in the middle with no trolling motor, just a paddle. Did his best to paddle to the shoreline but about a mile and a half of paddling it hard on an old man. Waves overturned the boat, water rough, old guy didn't make it. They found his body 4 days later at the back of the lake. I still feel horrible about it, keep thinking I sold him a motor that wouldn't start reliably.

And on that note I will never own another Mercury unless someone gives it to me; and even then I'd have to think hard about it.

terrible story Todd. Sorry to hear about it. I sold a snowblower to a buddy once a long time ago, He was a drinker. One day he stuck his hand in the chute to clear some snow while the auger was running. Chopped off 4 of his fingers, all he has now is his little finger and thumb. I felt terrible about it. Not to equate it to your story but still I feel for ya

 

[-CN-]

Chopped off 4 of his fingers, all he has now is his little finger and thumb.

At least he's not a 6-fingered freak anymore. :mrgreen:

 

[perchjerker]

Chopped off 4 of his fingers, all he has now is his little finger and thumb.

At least he's not a 6-fingered freak anymore. :mrgreen:

well you know what I mean

nothing to joke about

 

[scoobeb]

That is a early 90s outboard, I have a 20hp mercury, looks identical. Tell me serial number on it and I can tell you for sure.