Mercury outboard starter problems?

[dnoz]

I have a 1985 35 HP Mercury that has been starting fine. I went to take off turned the key and nothing. I checked all the obvious things the connections and switches looked fine. Took the cover off the motor tried to pull start it. Motor would pull over fine. I did not have a voltmeter with me at the lake so I tried jumping the motor from the battery directly to the terminals on the starter. The motor still would not turn over.

It looks like the starter is bad. Could somebody confirm for me that is the case before I go out and buy a new starter. If not any ideas what else to look at would be helpful.

Thank you

[eurolarva]

Most mercury starters can be rubuilt. A brush kit is around 25 dollars and a couple hours of removal and cleaning and it will be like new. If it were me I would get the battery load tested. Next take starter apart and see if it can be fixed. Order a rebuild kit from mercury. Hardest part is holding the springs and brushes in place when putting the cover back on. Also mark the cover up or down. IF you put the cover on backwards the magnetic poles will be backwards and the starter will spin the wrong direction.