55EL77D- intermittent start

[CobisCaller]

I have a '77 55 hp Johnson. I am having an intermittent start/spark issue. By that I mean no spark.
It seems to happen after sitting for a few days.
If I unhook the Black-Yellow wire from.the power pack it fires right up.
Then without doing anything else I can hook it back up and it stays running. If I shut the key off and restart it, it fires back up.
My thinking is that if there was something shorted in the kill circuit, it should die when I hook the wire back up, but it doesn't. Unless it is coincidence that it becomes "unshorted" as the motor starts.

I have replaced the key switch, but it still happens.

Any thoughts?

Does the kill circuit have any components or relays that possibly aren't "resetting" after the motor is shut down and then sits for a day or two?

Thanks

 

[F_R]

There is approximately 300 Volts in that black/yellow wire. That is enough to arc through any faults in the wire insulation. Such as degraded or cracked insulation or moisture in same.

 

[CobisCaller]

Okay thanks for the reply.
I will run a new wire from the switch to the Yellow/Black terminal on the power pack and see if the problem goes away.

I'll report back.

 

[boobie]

Let us know what happens. Thanks.