[71kona]

so heres the deal, 5.7 carburated 350 chevy/mercruiser motor + alpha1 drive, previous owner took out the factory mercury distributer and replaced it with a plain jane out of an old chevy at the junk yard hei, this being said obviously shifting, and finding neutral is like pulling teeth, i went and picked up a new factory distributer and a new coil today, my question is how does it work? what wires lead where? etc... any tips on where to find a wiring scematic for this specific object im dealing with? from what i see there are 2 wires (black and white) coming of the shift plate/mechanism whatever it is on the transom... now what?

 

[BDMarine]

Sorry. Not thinking clearly this morning. The switch actually momentarily grounds the Merc ignition module when shifting OUT of gear into neutral.

 

[Sanger Flatbottom]

The switch is not in your distributor. The 1st link below explains how it works, the second link is another description also, but contains part #'s, drive model, old switch and new switch part #'s and the location of the switch. The shift cable actually moves while shifting and activates a momentary switch (see below for locations) which grounds the dist side of the coil. Hope this helps....

Replacing your Mercruiser Alpha or Bravo Shift Cable

Mercruiser shift switch. Shift Interuptor switch

And this is a detailed explanation for replacing the shift cable

Mercruiser Shift Cables. Sterndrive and outboard shift cables. Control Cables

AND HERE.... is a complete wiring diagram for breaker points (hei similar to neg coil terminal), factory electronic ign including a list of all factory Merc wiring colors!

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/13/13E4R2.PDF

How we doin so far?

 

[71kona]

thanks for the intell... unfortunatly its a hack job under there so its getting dropped off to be done by someone who knows what there looking at aka teague lol

 

[jimclauss]

thanks for the intell... unfortunatly its a hack job under there so its getting dropped off to be done by someone who knows what there looking at aka teague lol

good move, but it's a real easy job...