Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hi guys...

Tonight I took a trip to the lake to install my newly received tiny tach. I recently bought a cheap Chinese knockoff of the tiny tach that seems to not be very accurate and I was looking forward to getting this new adjustable tach installed to see what rpm I'm spinning with my new prop.

When we got to the slip and spun the boat around to access the motor I immediately saw a problem. The lever that releases the cowl was hanging down as if the cowl was unlatched.
The problem is that the cowl is still latched but the lever that releases the cowl isn't doing anything. It's like it has separated on the inside of the hood.

I pushed in, pulled out and did everything that I could to try to get the latch to "catch" and release the locking mechanism, but to no avail. I finally gave up and decided to bring the problem before the forum.

Does anyone have any idea how to get into the inner workings of my motor? I'd hate to think that I'll have to cut the latch off and then try to find a replacement. By the way, this is on a 1999 50 HP Mercury Bigfoot outboard if that makes any difference.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

Better take it to the dealer or a service guy---or find another motor like yours and see how the latch mechanism works. I suspect it broke where it pivots or the part that grabs the latch broke off. Good luck...

There is a bolt that holds it in place that will work out. Had that same motor on a restored tri hull and it was a PITA. I think we could pull it out enough to the the latch to catch and undo. Once you have it off just tighten it up with a wrench. I'm pretty sure you had to pull it really hard out towards you and turn up at the same time and repeat over and over until it released. If it isn't really loose you an also pull it down to tighten the bolt which sometimes would work.

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.
I'll be going to the lake either this weekend or early next week so I'll try your suggestion. Hopefully I can get it to release and repair the problem. If I can get inside that bolt is going to be getting some green loctite upon re-assembly.

Thanks again for the information.

mpilot wrote:There is a bolt that holds it in place that will work out. Had that same motor on a restored tri hull and it was a PITA. I think we could pull it out enough to the the latch to catch and undo. Once you have it off just tighten it up with a wrench. I'm pretty sure you had to pull it really hard out towards you and turn up at the same time and repeat over and over until it released. If it isn't really loose you an also pull it down to tighten the bolt which sometimes would work.

Well today I was able to try your suggestions but unfortunately it did not work. The latch mechanism is super loose and no matter how hard I pulled it would not catch or release.
I'm not sure what to do next. There are three rivets on the back of the cowling that I'm thinking probably hold part of the latch. If I drill or grind those away maybe I can get things loose. I'm going to try to find an exploded view online of the latch. Hopefully that will give me some ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help. It is appreciated.

Dave

I wanted to give an update on this post in case anyone else ends up having this problem.

I went to the boat earlier today and decided to try reaching under the cowling with a homemade hook and springing the latch. Well unfortunately that didn't work.

What I did notice though was that I have quite a bit of play by prying lightly on the cowling, by the latch.
Once I noticed that I could pry the bottom of the cowling out about an inch I then simply trimmed the motor up....inserted a screwdriver and pried out on the cowling....had my wife hold a flashlight.....and then took another screwdriver and used it to pull the latch free. Once I could see the latch it was a simple matter of brute force and I had the cowling off.

Like I said I just wanted to give a quick update since I was not able to find any simple solutions online. Some resorted to drilling out the three rivets on the back of the cowling while others actually drilled 1-1/4" holes in the cowling itself and then had to plug the hole or fiberglass it shut. This was was much more simple and was pretty painless.

Once I tightened the bolt, (with a liberal amount of blue loctite thread locker), the cowling latch functions perfectly again.

One piece of advice......If you have one of these older Mercury latches it might be wise to check the tightness of this bolt every time you raise the cowling. My problem seems to be a common problem and it was a real PITA to figure out.