1996 Evinrude 90HP is giving me fits. Will not crank at all. Dead Silence.

[SXIPro]

I've got a 1996 Evinrude 90 HP that is killing me. It was having starting issues and smoked like a mother even for a 2 stroke. I replaced the starter solenoid and got it started. Yippee!! Found a loose fitting in my fuel system, fixed that and it corrected the smoking issue and also helped it idle better. Tossed it in the lake and it ran great. Drove it for about 15 minutes, brought it back to the dock shut it down. Then for giggles I went to start it just to bask in my success, and it does nothing at all. No click, no nothing. Dead silence besides the beep of the system check. All other powered items work including trim.

Lanyard is clipped, battery is fully charged, shifter is in neutral. I have 12.66V across the big posts on the solenoid. All my connectors have been cleaned. Battery nuts (not wingnuts) are cranked tight. I also tried a known good battery from my other boat with same sad result.

Where do I go from here? Thanks

 

[daselbee]

Well, the starting circuit for most all J/E outboards is nearly identical. They are very easy circuits to debug.

You have good voltage at the key and on the purple wire from the key that powers the tach. You say it is working, so that part of the circuit is OK.
It is not a blown fuse. If it was, the tach would be dead.

So, that leaves one key wire in the harness to check.

The wire in question is the yellow/red that runs from the key switch back to the six pin deutsch connector at the engine. From there, it goes directly to one of the two small lugs on the side of the starter solenoid. The SMALL lugs. Examine, and see the lug with the yellow/red wire on it.
Put your voltmeter positive on that lug, and the negative on good engine ground. When key is ON and held in the START position, you should have +12v on that yellow/red wire.

If not, the problem is in your key switch, the harness, the neutral interlock switch, or the deutsch connector.

If YES, 12v on the yellow/red, then take a small jumper wire and jump from battery positive lead (right there at the solenoid) to that lug with the yellow/red wire on the solenoid.

The solenoid should pick, and the engine will turn over.

If no pick, bad solenoid.

If it does pick (you hear it click), but no engine turn over, jump ACROSS the two big solenoid posts directly with a very large gauge wire. Jumper cable size. There will be a spark, so watch yourself. The engine will turn over. If it doesn't, bad starter (possibly). If it does, bad solenoid.

 

[SXIPro]

Daselbee, pretty sure I am gonna owe you a beer or twelve. Thank you VERY much for this well thought out and well written response. Hopefully I can troubleshoot this tonight. Thanks again.

 

[SXIPro]

Well it has 0 volts on the yellow/red with the key in the start position. The Deutsch connector and all pins male and female look new. All the wiring in the back of the key switch look fine. My money is on the neutral switch. I had to replace the red neutral lockout rod last week, maybe I screwed something up? Is there a way to bypass the switch to pinpoint it is the issue for sure?

 

[jakedaawg]

Check for twelve volts on the back of key switch. S terminal.

 

[daselbee]

Pretty sure the wires to and from the neutral safety lockout switch are also yellow/red. They also have bullet connectors. disconnect the bullet connectors, and using a jumper wire of some sort, short the two "harness side" yellow/reds together. That's what the switch does when operating correctly. re-try start.

 

[SXIPro]

It's the neutral safety switch for sure. I took the shifter control off (well at least removed the screws that mount it to the boat) gave the thing a violent shaking and a bunch of shifting, put it back in neutral, turned the key and it started. I have no idea how I can get at that switch though, never mind adjust it. It's inside the 'wall' of the boat and the access hole does not provide enough access.