I had someone look at my 1982 115 Mercury 6 cylinder outboard because it would idle fine but would go dead as soon as you gave it any throttle. It acted like it was not getting fuel. He told me that it was a faulty switch box because when he disconnected the white/black jumper wire between the two switch boxes, it would run fine. I asked him which switch box had the problem and he said he didn't know. He said that I could buy a new switch box and swap it with each old box to determine which one is bad. I read that one check you could make for the bias circuit was to disconnect the white/black jumper between the switch boxes and then check the ohms from each white/black terminal to engine ground. The range should be 14,000 - 15,000 ohms. Each one of mine was at 14,800 ohms. Does it sound like something is wrong with the bias circuit in one or both switch boxes? Will it cause more problems if I run the motor with the white/black jumper disconnected? Should I replace one or both of the switch boxes?
