Mercury KE-4 Rocket

[Aidan Smith]

Getting my KE-4 ready for the water this weekend.

Runs, but has a pretty bad misfire that I believe comes down to a failing condenser on the bottom cylinder. Coil is good, and has great spark when turned by hand. I am thinking that the condenser, when heating up, is shorting out.

Does anyone know the microfarads of the original Phelon condensers? I’d like to either rebuild or replace them with newer alternatives. I’ve had good luck with gutting the old ones and rebuilding them.

I had a .22 uF OMC condenser in there just for testing, but never actually ran the engine with them.

 

 

Thanks!

"Shells sink, dreams float. Life's good on our boat."
1949 Mercury KE-4
1952 Mercury KF-3,-5,-7
1952 Mercury KG-7Q

1937 Evinrude Scout
1938 Elto Pal
1946 Evinrude Ranger

[RICHARD A. WHITE]

Find out the part number of that condenser…. go to:

Members only section..

Inner Sanctum…

Old iron reference library…

Manuals…

On the right under Mercury you will find the Mercotronic manual… 168 pages I believe… in the manual you will find the specs for that condenser and sooooooomuch more, coil specs for a whole lot of motors…. Took me seemingly forever to scan all of those for member use.. Print it off, so that if someday you find one of those testers…you will already have the manual….

Enjoy

Richard

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

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Aidan Smith

[Tubs]

 

If that doesn’t help, and it continues to get worse, suspect the lower crankshaft seal.

A "Boathouse Repair" is one thats done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Aidan Smith

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