1986 Johnson 90hp...no spark....UPDATE #2

[Bosunsmate]

Well i was out tonight with her at a nearby lake and this boat/engine runs awesome. I was able to get 44mph out of her and she starts and runs like a dream. If someone can tell me what is the matter with having this kill wire removed from the other grounds...im all ears ....other wise i will leave it detatched as it has solved all my previous mentioned problems

how you stopping the motor?

 

[itsaboattime]

The lanyard switch is an emergency kill switch. There is supposed to be a lanyard that attaches to the driver. If the driver gets too far away from the controls, the lanyard gets pulled off of the switch and kills the outboard. I would not advise running your boat without one. The intended purpose of the switch is to kill the motor in case something like you falling over the side happens. It kills the motor so your boat doesn't take off and leave you stranded in the water.
I believe some states require them.
Replace the switch with a new one.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Oh yes^ read this, the skipper died so did his daughter. Plus his wife and son were critically injured when their boat went out of control and he didnt have the lanyard line attached, they were cut to shreds in the water after the boat turned violently and chucked them out and got stuck in a circle going round and round and hitting them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-wife-son.html

Ive read stories of people having their steering snapped and they are thrown out of the boat in a milli second, the motor instantly flicks to hard lock and throws people out. If they are unconscious they drown. This isnt just a concern for the older rope pulley style steering systems but also the newer systems which if not maintained properly have failed too. One case i read was one which had a slow leak of oil and it went unnoticed and it failed killing two people on board.

So i dont let anyone drive my boat without it on, im not so fussed about a lifejacket, thats their decision but the lanyard is a decision for everyone on board

 

[roonie]

how you stopping the motor?

with the key

 

[roonie]

you guys are doing a good job of freakin me out here...lol. i did not remove the kill switch....some one previous to the last owner did. All i did was remove the ground wire that was left on the other side of the non existing kill switch. I will look into purchasing one. In the meantime i need someone with more electrical knowledge than me to advise me on if taking this kill ground off is the correct thing to do. Sure took all my issues away. This boat purrrsssss now.
Ive never been in a boat all my life where the driver has used the lanyard...i must be hanging with the wrong crowd....lol.
Makes common sense to use one..especially by ones self on the water. But dont you think there has to be something said for living "dangerous"...keeps one on their toes even more in my opinion.....lol

The guy at the boat repair stated the reason someone discarded this particular style of kill switch was due to the fact that the rubber button would shrink in the hot sun and the boat would become useless and not run due to the driver could not find anything to push the button and hold it in to get to safety. So ..the question is would you rather be stranded or killed...lol. I MAY just keep living dangerously as ive been boating for several years without kill switch technology on all my previous boats. I know...i know...im flippin all over the place here. For all i know its the law up here in Canada to use a kill lanyard...will look into that too

 

[Bosunsmate]

But dont you think there has to be something said for living "dangerous"...keeps one on their toes even more in my opinion.....lol

na, why die so cheaply. Its the same recklessness as not using a cars seat belt- a miniscule imposition for a massive potential lifesaver.
Ive never had problem with my lanyard, but if you do on mine you just pull the rubber knob off and it keeps the contacts separated so nothing connects to ground.

 

[Fed]

If you ground the wire again without a kill switch in the circuit to open it you will lose spark again.
I've never used a kill switch but if mine was faulty/missing I'd replace it just to get things back to how they should be.

 

[V153]

I've never used a kill switch

Really? You should!

I've seen more runaway boats than I care to remember.