Thread: 2004 60 hp four stroke Mercury motor won't start

Yeah you can hook it straight to the battery

Sent from my SM-G975U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

There is a solenoid between the starte and the key switch.

Here is a picture of your starter relay/ solenoid. Fits several different motors in your category. You need a meter to check to see if your getting power to main lug and if your getting power to small switch lug when engaging key switch. It also gives you the part number so you could do online search if needed since it shows not available through them. Or a dealer near you might have one. But first you need to determine if it’s really bad or not.
DOING ELECTRICAL work is ALMOST Impossible Without A Meter.
Click on the link below.
Attention Required! | Cloudflare

Jump the 2 big wires on the solenoid. If the starter turns, replace the solenoid. CAUTION! there will be sparks

Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

Jump the 2 big wires on the solenoid. If the starter turns, replace the solenoid. CAUTION! there will be sparks

And if your jumper wire is to small there may be some heat. Best to hold the jumper wire with a pair of pliers. I have branded my fingers a time or three

I had an 04 70HP Suzuki that occasionally the starter would stick. If I remember right there was a gear on top that was supposed to pop up. I would have to take a screwdriver and pry on that gear to get it to turn and lift and then lube it. After that it would start fine for quite a while. In the 13 years I ran that motor it probably stuck on me 5 or 6 times and that's when I was in the peak of my guiding days. Might be worth a try.

UPDATE
Today my neighbor came over with a testing light, We checked the wires coming into the solenoid. No current. Then we jumped the solenoid. The engine started! So we allowed the solenoid and starter were good.

Then we went to the bundle of wires under the console, from the ignition switch. A group of wires going into a molded "plug" was our first target, with the ignition on. Inserted the probe into the plug next to a red wire. Everything came alive. Ant the motor started normal since that. And we couldn't make it not work again.

But we didn't fix anything so out on the lake somewhere, it is going to not start again. But I can jump it at the solenoid or use the pull rope and get back to launching dock.

But I would feel better if it was repaired and normal.

So any ideas now?

You definitely have a connection going bad in the plug. Or the wire just outside of the plug. A fix may be as simple as cleaning the terminals and applying dielectric grease to keep corrosion/ oxide build up down. You could cut the plug out and splice the wires together or better yet solder the connections and seal with heatshrink. Those type of troubleshooting will drive you crazy. Once it goes back to working there is no way of finding the problem until it shows itself again