electrical gremlins in ignition

[wrestler20]

Forgive me if this gets confusing, but i'm not sure what to even check next. I have a 1985 2.5 liter sea drive with some kind of electrical problem with the key switch. the key switch wire to kill the motor (black/yellow stripe) reads negative with the key off and nothing with the key turned on, is that correct? The weird thing is the motor starts up MUCh better with those wires disconnected completely. It will start and idle poorly with them hooked up. With the back/yellow wires unhooked, after the motor is started, if you turn the key to the off position the motor gains about 300 RPM and runs perfect. When you turn the key back on, the motor looses 300 rpm and just barely holds idle and misfires here and there. i know this information may not be much help, but i am just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to test next?

 

[ICEMAN]

Re: electrical gremlins in ignition

HI, The negative reading you get on the black/yellow with the key off and no reading with the key on, is correct. This black/yellow wire is connected to the powerpacks. When the motor is running, this wire has a high voltage passing thru it, from the packs. When the key is turned off, this wire gets grounded and the motor shuts off. I would suspect that you have a bad key switch, which is shorting internally. Replace the key switch. Also on the motor, I believe there is a red bulb connector for the wiring harness. Seperate the bulb and make sure the terminals are clean.