Here's one I haven't seen posted yet. I'm (still) working on a "no spark" problem. I changed the coil, and it ran for about a minute, then you guessed it, no spark again. <br /><br />Here's the details, and the question. It's an 80hp merc, 1970, 4cyl. As I was messing about in the boat, I noticed that the wires in the harness that goes from the motor to the controls, and the battery connections are cracked and even some bare wire exposed.... woohoo! could this be the problem that's blowing my coil? There is cracked insulation everywhere...on the battery leads, and even in some random places that I cut away the black rubber "sheathing" that runs around the wires, and found some other cracks.<br /><br />Is there a way to "bypass these wires, or hook up the motor temporarily to see if that's the problem? I would even be willing to cut the wires, and make my own harness using the existing plug. I just don't want to spend approx $300.00 only to find out that I still haven't found the actual problem. <br /><br />(If I don't get this fixed pretty soon, I'll probably start looking for another used motor, and if I find a Johnson or Evenrude or whatever, I don't want to be stuck with the $300.00 cable that will only work for my junk motor.<br /><br />Thanks<br />Bob
. from what I have read this is a fairly common problem, here's the good news though, I went down to the library and xeroxed the wiring diagram for my motor from a manual, and as soon as I can figure out if there is some kinda of special magical "marine" wiring that I am supposed to use, I plan to make my own harness, It's looks simple, I think if you can install an aftermarket car stereo it should be relatively easy, but like the man said, it would be time consuming, but you have the chance to better the original, so thats at least a positive. anyway, good luck and i hope it works out for you.