Wiring question about 1965 Merc 650 (Kiekhaefer)

[1986mercury]

Hi,
I’m new to this group…Thanks in advance for any information concerning my wiring question!!!

I have my dad’s old 1965 650 mercury (with K Magneto). I still use this on a small bass boat, but unfortunately haven’t been able to “hit the water” for almost 4 years. Seeking to remedy this… I just finished checking the carbs for crud in advance of trying my luck on the river. Fortunately, even though it wasn’t run during this period of storage, the Stabil did its job, and along with the non-methanol gas I use, and no problem was detected based on my initial inspection of the carbs (I had at least pumped fresh gas/ stabil mix into the carbs each year to replenish that which evaporated).

I have a good electrical background, but my PROBLEM however in fact deals with wiring on this motor. While removing the front cowling bracket to better access the carburetors, I noticed several wires that had lost significant insulation through aging and exposure. I cut off the damaged sections and replaced that wire with appropriate size “chemical resistant” type and carefully taped the bundle back together and further secured with some wire ties to minimize strain on the remaining original sections. Each wire was “repaired” one-at-a-time… so there should not have been an issue of “mixing up the wires” during the process. In seeking to assure that I didn’t create a “high resistance” splice along the way, I took my ohm meter… and along with a “Kiekhaefer Type 1 4-cylinder” wiring diagram from my Seloc Repair Guide, attempted to check each wire. My process was to place one lead at each pin in the main cable socket (on the side of the engine) and then place the other lead onto the repaired ends of the cable where each wire is supposed to connect…this based upon the drawing I mention. All of the wires seemed in sync with the drawing but one..the small red wire going the output terminal of the plate rectifier! This is where confusion sets in…

The DRAWING does not indicate ANY wire going from the socket’s “pin F” into the engine compartment, yet THIS is the only pin which shows continuity when the other meter lead is connected to the middle terminal on the plate rectifier (the “output” terminal with small red wire attached). Based on the drawing I have, I had expected this wire was tied in with the large red wire going TO the starter solenoid, and would thus signal when the ohm meter leads were in contact with socket’s “pin A” and the small red wire at the rectifier output connection. NOT SO… the small red wire does not appear to be electrically connected with the large red wire attached to the solenoid (or “pin A” as the drawing lead me to believe… but in fact IS electrically connected to pin “F” in the socket.

I verified the rectifier is NOT SHORTED…and at this point, I’m close to concluding the issue is that I may have an incorrect drawing for my particular model engine ,OR I’m somehow misinterpreting the drawing itself. As there ARE wires that originate at the “pin F” terminal at the Control Unit starter switch that go to “pin F” on the main cable CONNECTOR (which plugs into the main cable socket) it doesn’t make sense to me that the drawing doesn’t continue “pin F’s” journey into the engine compartment to some sort of attachment point. I’m hoping someone reading this has experience with 1965 Merc. 650’s and can provide insight into the wiring/drawing matter. With the expense and hassle involved with potentially having to replace a stator (and perhaps a rectifier) due to an error, I want to be sure the problem is the drawing I’m using rather than wiring repair I’ve done…BEFORE hooking the battery up and attempting to fire up the engine!

Finally… I consider my repair to the existing wiring to be a temporary fix. At some point I would like to replace the wiring all the way back to the main cable socket itself! Does anyone know if there is a way to install new wire at the socket or is it a “one piece” molded affair that precludes the possibility of simply attaching new wires to the pins?

Thanks again for ANY insight or experience you might convey regarding these issues!!!

[dave-bernard]

Call me 1 914 310 7086 Dave.

[Author]

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