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Merc 115 won't start

Acer2428

Acer2428

Member
:shakehead:

Took 'er out of storage and have been working on polishing/waxing her and decided: "hey, why not make sure it STARTS!"

Long story short, I can't even get a compression reading. I CAN however turn the flywheel by hand and it seems to move fine (I thought stuck piston for a second). I got up to 60PSI before my arm fell off.

So it's not a stuck piston/assembly. Ok, so that means there's a problem with the starter? The starter should turn the flywheel/crank. I'm working by myself at the moment, so I can't keep an eye on it like I'd like to. Whenever I go to start it, the starter makes a LOT of noise (always been loud, but this sounds like a lot of metal/metal raquet)

When I go back to check it, the starter gear is still meshed with the flywheel (not retracting when I let go of the key). Could it be that the internal gear of the starter is just about done and there's enough bite to spin it up there, but not enough to push it once it encounters a load? I have another starter from a parts motor I bought. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.

Thanks,

Sam
 
Forgot to mention. I had to quickly throw a cover over the motor since the farmer decided he needed to re-plant. Anyways, I found this spring curled up next to the flywheel. Looks important (i.e. the source of my problems)

IMG_0257.png

No idea where it came from though. Help please.
 
make sure the kill switch isn't thrown!

I think your battery is down! I don't have any idea of what the spring does... too small for
the bendix return. Try a 'known good' batt. and It'll start rite up! If not, check all the elect.
connections. If you know how, jump the starter! But before any of this... make sure the kill switch isn't thrown! This time of the year brings all the kill switches out!
 
Well, I tripped the kill switch while getting compression readings. It still doesn't explain the lack of flywheel/assembly movement.

I think the battery is just fine. It read fully charged (12-13 amp/volt, I forget) and it runs the trim just fine. The starter doesn't seem to ever 'wear' and goes strong the whole time.

The starter is spinning, but only until it meshes with the flywheel, then it stops. It doesn't seem to have enough umph to power the flywheel, but the starter continues to make noise.

I replaced most of the electrical last year and had the motor running tip top.
 
Ok, well I think I solved my own little problem. The starter spun itself apart!

The spring I found goes on top of the starter gear to force it down once the power to the starter is removed. I know this since I also found the cap that holds the spring in place, but the nut is MIA. I'll go tomorrow and pick up my other starter.

The noise was because the shaft was spinning, but not the gear. The gear had spun itself above the spiral in the shaft that forces it to turn. When I started the motor, the gear would hit the spiral, hence the racket.

HAR! HAR!

And so we will what problems I run into tomorrow.
 
the small spring looks like the bendix return spring.. but a cap & clip hold it in place... find some one with a ohms meter...put it on dc volts...follow the red wire from the batt to the solinoid. put the red meter wire on the red cable@ the solenoid the black lead on the engine ground or block assy. crank the starter.. it should read 8 ish volts or higher.. if so test the other side of the solinid.. same thing 8 volts or higher.. then test the starter cap stud where the wire mounts.. same thing 8 volts or better.. if all is 8 volts or better you need aa starter or clean the brushes & armature. If under 8 volt any where you need to find the issue . ,, batt, wires, bad ground, solinoid, starter wire, starter...Kurt
 
It still could very well have electrical issues. If this doesn't remedy the problem, I'll give your method a shot. Thanks!
 
News from the front lines: Success!

She fired up, idled, and pissed a solid stream, and all seems to be well. Just a quick question, what's a normal idle range for the 115 tower-o-power?
 
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