electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

[Gyp-sea]

okay...still stuck trying to get my old motor to start. it's a 1962 johnson rk24 electramatic 40hp. it has a push button starter that replaced the old key start. everything worked fine when i first got it a few weeks ago and now when i try to start it i get nothing! i can jump wire the two big post on the solenoid and the starter kicks in with no problems, so it's not the starter. i have gone under the dash and re-connected all the wiring as some connections looked a little sketchy...still nothing. i cleaned up all the connections from battery, to starter, to solenoid, to dash connections...nada. i went back to the solenoid and jump wired the battery post to the small ignition post and didn't get any response, not even a sound...to me that said the solenoid was shot. just bought a brand new one and installed it...still no start.
the only thing i have not tested is the controller box. i have read a few threads on here that say that can be a problem...some little switch inside that tells the motor it's in gear and will not allow the starter to kick in? problem is, i don't know if i have that kind of feature on my old 62', and if i do i sure don't know how to test it. any suggestions?

 

[jonesg]

Re: electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

I think the factory manual would be a very smart move, then some testing with a meter. Maybe mr Reeves will see your question .
www.outboardbooks.com

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

1st fully charge your battery. Are you getting volatge to the switch? If you have a helper disconnect the wire from the key switch to the solenoid (at the solenoid). Have them push the button to verify that you are getting voltage to the solenoid. If so try to run a jumper cable from another battery to the positive side of the starter and ground to the starter body. Did it crank? If so the only thing it can be is a solenoid. Did you buy a marine or a ford solenoid? Though Ford Solenoids look the same they will not hold up well to constant duty like a marine solenoid. Napa sells constant duty solenoids that are on par with a marine type. If you can't get a marine one at a minimum ask for a constant duty solenoid.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

If you're just using a push button switch for your starter, then you only need to run a hot wire to it and a wire from the other connection back to the solenoid. It's a very simple set up. You may possibly have a bad switch. You could arc the two connections and see if you get a response to your starter. If that doesn't work, then you may just have a bad connection at one of those two wires. For the main hot wire that feeds the dash, I just run a 14 - 16 guage lead, from the hot side of the solenoid and run that to the starter switch. The ground side of your solenoid could be faulty too, like the safety switch, that only allows your solenoid to engage in neutral. You can also run a direct ground from this terminal to the engine block and see if your solenoid kicks in.

Like Lion hunter says, a Ford solenoid is hot, at both of the small terminals, whereas the outboard solenoid has one hot and one is a ground. The terminal closest to the battery connection, is typically the ground side. The small terminal closest to the starter side, is the hot side, coming from the starter switch.

 

[Gyp-sea]

Re: electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

this may be a dumb question, but how do you use those freaking meters? i've only really ever worked on restoring classic cars and we never use those things. i have a meter, but don't really know what to test or how to do it.

i will say in reply to the responses...the battery is fully charged, brand new in fact. the solenoid i bought is a new johnson 12v that i got from our local marine shop. yes, i can start the starter by jumping a battery directly to it. i don't think the switch is bad because it was working last week.

so, it must be some kind of electrical problem but, like i said, i don't really know how to use a meter properly...can't find any threads on the subject either.

it's either that, or the safety switch inside the controller...if my controller has that feature?

 

[Pokertrampp]

Re: electrical nightmare!!!!!! ...or is it?

at the very least you can use a test light, while it will not give you a voltage reading, it will tell you if you are getting voltage.