1987 Johnson 25HP No Power To Ignition Switch

[seaVT]

I have no power to the Red/Blue hot wire....there is actually some, just .19 AMPS.
A bit of history first:
I killed the old battery from leaving an accessory on CRANK-CRANK, CLICK-CLICK. I had it load tested and it was junk, so I replaced it with the battery shown below. After installing it, I didn't test the motor, just the fish finder and lights and thought I was good to go. I go on the river yesterday, and nothing happened when I turn the key. I tried to rope start it, tried racking the gear lever into neutral, still nothing.
I did a bunch of reading here, and tried jumping the neutral safety switch with no luck. I checked the fuse under the bonnet, cleaned the connection in the harness plug, cleaned battery leads. Found no power at the ignition switch. There is also no power on the thin yellow wire at the starter solenoid with the switch on.

 

[seaVT]

PICS

​

​

​

 

[seaVT]

more

 

[oldboat1]

Look for a fuse on the engine side of the harness. On the boat side, check continuity of the wires between the plug and the starter switch.

 

[seaVT]

Would you mind elaborating a bit?
As for the fuse the only one I was aware of was the one in line with the starter solenoid. Are you saying there is another? What's "the engine side of the harness". And which "plug" are you referring to and which connection on the starter switch?

 

[racerone]

Explain why you used ammeter to look for power at the switch ?----Normally it is checked using VOLTS or OHMS function.----Does the starter crank when booster cables are used directly to the starter ?

 

[seaVT]

Explain why you used ammeter to look for power at the switch ?----Normally it is checked using VOLTS or OHMS function.----Does the starter crank when booster cables are used directly to the starter ?

Sorry...semantics are a *****. Yes it was on the volt setting. I haven't tried jumping the starter but will today.

Should I try running an auxiliary wire from battery + to the constant power side of the ignition switch?

 

[Crosbyman]

basic trouble shooting... work backwards till you find power .... good power not weak power due to a resistive junction along some wiring or bad switch... voltage is no good without proper current carrying capacity

 

[seaVT]

Starter is good, all I have been able to get to so far. Is there any unit specifically that will not allow full 12V power to the ignition lead?

 

[racerone]

There is a safety switch in the control box that prevents CRANKING when control is in gear.-----There may be a switch on your control box for a SAFETY lanyard that will stop the motor in a " man overboard " situation.-----and 12 volts is NOT USED to make the spark ( ignition ) when switch in the control box is in the on ( run ) position.

 

[seaVT]

There is a safety switch in the control box that prevents CRANKING when control is in gear.-----There may be a switch on your control box for a SAFETY lanyard that will stop the motor in a " man overboard " situation.-----and 12 volts is NOT USED to make the spark ( ignition ) when switch in the control box is in the on ( run ) position.

Thanks, as posted in #1 I jumped the neutral safety switch, and no go. As for the lanyard, I thought that sends positive to ground so you would still get a cranking condition if faulty?

 

[racerone]

The lanyard shorts the magneto to ground so that spark stops !-----Motor will still crank with safety lanyard shorted to ground ( not 12 volts ) but will not start as there is no spark.-----Check the wee ground wire from solenoid to the engine block.

 

[seaVT]

---Check the wee ground wire from solenoid to the engine block.

I did and it's also fine. Swapped the fuse just to be sure, no change.
I am starting to lean towards the area here outlined in red in the photo, what is the "bank" of wiring connections in front and the rounded triangle part with a clear window/wiring behind it called?

 

[seaVT]

I just went back to the solenoid ground wire. I took the entire threaded stud out, cleaned everything and sinched back tight (it wasn't before). Did the same on the positive side of the solenoid.
I got it to crank....but only once. It's back to being dead, no nothing. Will a bad solenoid lead to this no nothing condition?

 

[oldboat1]

Would you mind elaborating a bit?
As for the fuse the only one I was aware of was the one in line with the starter solenoid. Are you saying there is another? What's "the engine side of the harness". And which "plug" are you referring to and which connection on the starter switch?

http://maxrules.com/graphics/omc/wir...lec-remote.jpg (maybe similar)

The large red connector shown in your picture. Unplug it after disconnecting battery -- check continuity for each of the wires going to the starter switch. May have some corrosion at the plug and/or at the switch connections -- want to insure you have solid current flow.

 

[racerone]

You took the entire threaded stud out of the solenoid ?----You may want to invest in a new solenoid now .

 

[Crosbyman]

basic troubleshooting...as I wrote work backwards ...follow the wire to it's origin (+12) where you should find the missing half of the equation .... lost is a frayed wire, a loose wire, a corroded wire ....

the worst place to loose continuity is in junction points ...as in the big fat connector open it up spay in some wd40

if you have no 12v on the selenoid control post when in START keep the key at START (use a friend) and poke around with a non electrically conductive probe (stick) if the engine kicks over you found the site of breakage or corrosion
but you need a good selenoid

you can test it directly by feeding 12v to the control post.... it should pull up and get the starter going

 

[seaVT]

You took the entire threaded stud out of the solenoid ?----You may want to invest in a new solenoid now .

The stud just went into the block. It was the only way to get all 4 of the grounds off, 2 were on the short threaded side with a removable nut, the other 2 were between the nut of the stud and the block.

 

[seaVT]

basic troubleshooting...as I wrote work backwards ...follow the wire to it's origin (+12) where you should find the missing half of the equation .... lost is a frayed wire, a loose wire, a corroded wire ....

the worst place to loose continuity is in junction points ...as in the big fat connector open it up spay in some wd40

if you have no 12v on the selenoid control post when in START keep the key at START (use a friend) and poke around with a non electrically conductive probe (stick) if the engine kicks over you found the site of breakage or corrosion
but you need a good selenoid

you can test it directly by feeding 12v to the control post.... it should pull up and get the starter going

I did jump through the solenoid and it kicked the starter. I'll try the poke method you mentioned....but I do that with one end of the probe on the small wire on the solenoid to jump the potential break in the wire, correct?

 

[seaVT]

Solved:
+12 constant wire was broken under factory shrink wrapped end @ switch...I didn't notice until I was pulling on it inadvertently when checking for continuity. Sigh. Thanks for the help.