1984 115hp TOP Switch Box Wiring

[MNhunter1]

I have a 1984 TOP I am going through and had a few questions regarding the switch box wiring:

1) Upper switch box ground cable - top coil pack has ground wires running to top left screw of the upper switch box. There was also another ground wire running from this screw to the Neg post on the starter. Is there a correct/standard way to ground the upper switch box? Any harm in the how it was set up to ground off the starter?



2) Stator wires – Mercury manual shows red/white strip and blue/white strip going to top switch box with solid red and solid blue going to lower switch box. Manual also states yellow sleeve wires should all go to lower switch box. However, the stator wiring for my motor has the red/white stripe and blue/white stripe stator wires in the yellow sleeve. So…do I go against the manual color codes and connect them to the lower switch box, or ignore the yellow sleeve and connect them to the upper switch box(as pictured)?

 

[MNhunter1]

Are the switch blocks grounded via the mounting screws? Do they need a separate ground wire?

Any potential harm/damage if I try to start it with the stator wires inverted from top to bottom switch block? Is there a way to determine where they should be aside from the yellow sleeve?

 

[Chris1956]

It is hard to tell from a picture if the ground is good. Some general stuff. All those questions ask if the grounds are good. If you have a good ground, the switchboxes do not use lots of amperage, so a light duty ground wire is fine. If in doubt, add a ground wire to any good ground.