Ignition Problem Solved????????

dstuard

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
186
Well here goes. Everyone will say "I knew he did not know what he was doing." Before spending any money for no spark I decided to follow old 12 footers advice one more time and see if maybe I messed up somewhere. I removed the black/yellow wires from the switch boxes and shot some mist to her. Bang she sputtered for a while. I think I traced the ground back to the harness. I unplugged the harness and found this. The yellow/black wire on the control side of the harness is only grounded when the key is off. The same wire Stayed grounded on the motor side of the harness when unplugged. I cut the wire and the wire itself lost the ground. The wire that was still connected to the harness however was still grounded. Can I say it is a bad harness now? If so where do I get one? Sorry I got so lengthy. This site is great. Everyone is very helpfull and there is a ton of information.
 

Hooty

Rear Admiral
Joined
Oct 2, 2001
Messages
4,496
Re: Ignition Problem Solved????????

Good job!<br />Sounds like you've got it going your way. <br />You can probably get that wiring harness from Mercury but if the price is outragous, with as many boats as there are around Austin, you should be able to find a used one pretty reasonable. If it was me, I'd put the muffs on it and be sure it started first.<br />Keep us posted.<br /><br />c/6<br /><br />Hooty
 

mellowyellow

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Messages
5,327
Re: Ignition Problem Solved????????

congrats! well done... shudder to think how many<br />parts could have been replaced just to find it's<br />a shot harness. that TX climate is sure hell on<br />gelcoat and wiring.<br />persistance breaks resistance :D <br /><br />PS. always best to add this to origional post so<br />folks in the future can learn from your experience.
 

dstuard

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
186
Re: Ignition Problem Solved????????

It was not the harness that is shot. I cut the wires on each side and by-passed the harness and it still did not get rid of the ground. Took wire off tilt switch and still have ground. How would I test the key switch to see if that is where my problem is?
 

dstuard

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
186
Re: Ignition Problem Solved????????

Well finally I have fixed my problem. Traced the problem back to the emergency kill sxitch. THat is the very 1st thing I checked. Thought it was bad so I tried to bypass it. BIG MISTAKE. I had the wrong two wires together. Live and learn. At least all it cost was lots of frustration.
 

RICKRICK1

Ensign
Joined
Jun 24, 2002
Messages
926
Re: Ignition Problem Solved????????

Glad you got your problem fixed. Sometimes it is best to start over from the 1st thing we checked. Have been there, done that, got my shirt and cap. :p It really makes you feel good to find the problem and fix it. I call these my training fixes. :rolleyes: Seems like I do alot of those these days. HEHEHE!!!
 
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