05-16-2010, 04:47 PM
Last fall I got some water in my lower unit on my old outboard and it froze and it wasn't worth repairing.
I found a replacement outboard (1969 100 HP Mercury Tower of Power) listed on KSL. When I went to check it out I discovered that the prior owner was in a hurry to haul his boat to the land fill and obviously had zero mechanic skills. Instead of figuring out how to remove the throttle and the wiring he just cut off all of the wiring about 4 feet from the outboard and also just left the cables on the boat![shocked]
The prior owner had a receipt from a local shop that had previously done some work on the outboard. N.E.T.O. and I (mostly Randy) installed the replacement outboard on my boat and I took it to the local shop to have the wiring left on the outboard spliced into my wiring. Only charged me $100, which seemed like a good deal. This was in January.
Took the boat out a few weeks ago to test it and it fired right up. Before I got out of the Willard Bay Marina I smelled something burning and noticed smoke coming out of the throttle box. First tried to paddle the boat back on the boat, but that wasn't working in the wind. Fired up the trolling motor and because the Remote Troll isn't working these days, had to get back near the trolling motor to run the outboard and guide it up onto the trailer. Got it on the trailer without any difficulty.
Returned the boat to the shop and was told that the wiring was bad in the starter switch and so he replaced it. Only charged 1/2 hour in labor and the cost of the new starter switch.
Tested it again and smelled something hot. I felt the wiring going into the throttle and it was hot enough that it could have burned my hand. Using the trolling motor, trying to trailer it in the wind at Utah Lake State Park, I ran the bow of the boat through one of the rear windows of my Suburban[mad]! Found out that the glass shop will waive the $100 deductible for all insurance companies except for State Farm.[frown]
Gave up with local boat shop and took the boat up to Lee's Marine. He found that the new starter switch that had been put in was too large (causing it to short against the throttle box), steering cables shot, blades worn in throttle mechanism and the outboard wasn't putting out any electricity to charge the battery. Lee is waiting on parts. Hope it is now fixed.
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I found a replacement outboard (1969 100 HP Mercury Tower of Power) listed on KSL. When I went to check it out I discovered that the prior owner was in a hurry to haul his boat to the land fill and obviously had zero mechanic skills. Instead of figuring out how to remove the throttle and the wiring he just cut off all of the wiring about 4 feet from the outboard and also just left the cables on the boat![shocked]
The prior owner had a receipt from a local shop that had previously done some work on the outboard. N.E.T.O. and I (mostly Randy) installed the replacement outboard on my boat and I took it to the local shop to have the wiring left on the outboard spliced into my wiring. Only charged me $100, which seemed like a good deal. This was in January.
Took the boat out a few weeks ago to test it and it fired right up. Before I got out of the Willard Bay Marina I smelled something burning and noticed smoke coming out of the throttle box. First tried to paddle the boat back on the boat, but that wasn't working in the wind. Fired up the trolling motor and because the Remote Troll isn't working these days, had to get back near the trolling motor to run the outboard and guide it up onto the trailer. Got it on the trailer without any difficulty.
Returned the boat to the shop and was told that the wiring was bad in the starter switch and so he replaced it. Only charged 1/2 hour in labor and the cost of the new starter switch.
Tested it again and smelled something hot. I felt the wiring going into the throttle and it was hot enough that it could have burned my hand. Using the trolling motor, trying to trailer it in the wind at Utah Lake State Park, I ran the bow of the boat through one of the rear windows of my Suburban[mad]! Found out that the glass shop will waive the $100 deductible for all insurance companies except for State Farm.[frown]
Gave up with local boat shop and took the boat up to Lee's Marine. He found that the new starter switch that had been put in was too large (causing it to short against the throttle box), steering cables shot, blades worn in throttle mechanism and the outboard wasn't putting out any electricity to charge the battery. Lee is waiting on parts. Hope it is now fixed.
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