Electrical problem - 85ESL72

[carmangary1]

I have a weird problem that happens only occasionally which makes it hard to troubleshoot. Perhaps someone will have an idea of what is going on based on experience.<br /><br />The engine runs fine but if I run it hard and then cut the power off really fast sometimes when I try to restart it, I get nothing, no click of the solenoid, nothing. If I look at the fuse and put it back in, the engine will start. Nothing wrong with the fuse, though.<br /><br />Any ideas?

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: Electrical problem - 85ESL72

Here's a bit of a shot in the dark.<br /><br />Those engines have a switch, that often goes flaky like you describe, that is supposed to keep the solenoid from working if you have the throttle opened up much. The switch is on the starboard side of the engine, right behind where the throttle cable hooks up. If you look, you'll see a little cam on the throttle lever that pushes the switch closed at low throttle settings. <br /><br />The ground for the solenoid is wired directly to this switch. Try removing the wire from the switch, grounding it, and see if the solenoid works then.