Merc choke solenoid queston

[Yellowjacket]

I have a older (1977) Merc 500 that has electric start and choke. I just got the motor and there is some evidence of wiring damage that has been repaired, in particular the choke wire has been redone and there's some damage to the harness. I pulled the choke solenoid, and tried it outside the housing. It works, but... It gets pretty hot if you leave it actuated for more than a few moments. I realize that you wouldn't normally keep it choked for a long time, but the resistance seems to be low, less than an ohm and I'm thinking that the reason for the damaged wiring was that the solenoid is actually bad and is drawing too much current. Does anybody know what the resistance of the solenoid should be? This is the same solenoid that has been used on about a bizzlion Merc's, from the 40 to the 85 hp engines..

[Krazy Karl]

It shouldn't get hot at all. I think they may be prone to failure. I recently redid an older boat with a Merc 650 on it. The choke solenoid was bad and burned down the choke circuit wiring. If you replace it be careful, there are different mounting plates for different model motors. Mark 55 wont fit a Merc 650, etc.
kk

[Yellowjacket]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. The resistance was really low and I'm figuring that the previous owner let the smoke out of the harness. I'll replace the solenoid before I try to use it again.