Thank you,Rapier.

I've got some time off this week, so will have a good look at it.

Well, my engine came back this week and all the repairs have been done. I haven't started it up yet, but have tried turning it over on the battery. It is very sluggish and barely turns over on a fresh, fully charged battery, so I am wondering if the brushes in the starter motor need replacing. The s...

That settles it, then. Battery Megastore it is!

Thanks for all the replies, which were very helpful.

As luck would have it, I am now going to be on-call next weekend, so won't be able to get down to the boatyard. However, the weekend after that....

Thanks again.

Graham

Hi, Well, I am one step closer to getting my Owens 'Kent' back on the water. The engine is being fettled by a neighbour who also happens to be a marine engineer (RN Retd. ) Always useful to have one of those in your neighbourhood, I find! My question is, now that I am about to put it back on the boa...

If it is a 1962 model ( this one? ) then it will be magneto ignition. On the side of the magneto is a terminal which should have a wire (brown?) going to it, this is the kill wire. If you earth that terminal it will shut her down. Thank you. That seems to have done it. The wire is brown, but gradua...

It's a 1962 model, serial no. 1519277. Sadly there is no key as the engine didn't come to me with a control system; I am having to build all this into the boat. There is a mercury tilt switch but I'm not sure that it's working, having tilted the engine up to its fullest extent without it cutting out...

A couple of cancelled night shifts have given me some time to carry out the work needed to get the engine running again. After nearly four years laid up in a corner of my garage, I connected it up yesterday to a tank of fresh fuel and a good battery and it fired up at the first push of the button! W...

Qick updateI stripped down the gearcase at the weekend and much to my surprise everything inside looked in brand-new condition: the teeth on the gearwheels were still sharp enough for me to cut a finger. Having examined it closely I put it all back together but still couldn't get it to engage a gear...

The engine came back from a marine engineer yesterday who had spent a considerable amount of time freeing up the swivel. He believes the problem may be as described, but was reluctant to let me rack up any more labour costs, instead telling me this is something I could easily sort out myself. Given ...

Well, the gearcase on my 1962 Kiekhaefer Merc 500 is officially shot. Whilst the gear shift on the engine moves through only 60 degs, the shaft requires almost 160 on the bench to change gear, so something in the gearcase has gone badly awry. Informed opinion (not mine, obviously) says it may be the...