1989 Osprey 175 w/ Striper Package Starting/Wiring Issues

[ShawnsIronman]

Hey Everyone. I finally got my Johnson VRO 110 onto the 175. The first time I started it, it cranked up right off and ran great.

We took it out for a test run and again started right up, but I noticed that that the gear linkage was not adjusted correctly and would not go into gear immediately. I adjusted it on the fly and we took off running. She took off amazing and was running about 40mph  . All of a sudden the engine died. 

When I tried to start it again, the starter would not engage. Of course I started to panic and move several things including the throttle, wiggling the kill switch, and checking the key switch. All of a sudden the starter engaged and started right back up again. We ran it again and it ran great. After I put her back on the trailer, I killed the engine. Upon start up again to flush the engine, the same thing happened and starter would not engage. The starter does engage when I hit it directly, but still does not start. So now instead of fishing tomorrow, I will be wire tracing. I just don't know where to start, so I thought I would ask all you "salty dawgs" what you would do.

First I will check the kill switch to make sure it is not shutting off anything, but I don't think that is it considering that it would normally engage the starter, but not start the engine.

Second, I will start testing all of the circuits in the key switch to make sure something did not happen to it. If that is fine, then I will check at the red plug to make sure I am not dropping voltage at the plug.

Any other suggestions that I should consider? I will keep everyone posted on my progress.

[fitz73222]

You have several potential root causes for these issues.

1) The keyswitch is one suspect for sure. It is the common denominator between start and run circuits.
2) The neutral safety switch, either incorrectly adjusted or faulty will affect start circuit only.
3) Faulty starter solenoid, even though you may hear it "clicking" will affect start circuit only.
4) Corrosion or broken wiring in the wiring harness, usually at the keyswitch connections or where the harness exits the engine and has been subject to normal bending and kinking from turning and tilting.

If you have a panel mounted keyswitch on your dash that is subject to getting water in the switch from rain or washing the boat, this can cause the random starting or running issue, this is more common than you think. Sometimes you'll actually hear the water sizzling in the keyswitch after the engine shuts off.

The quick and easy way to isolate the keyswitch and wiring as a problem is start the engine at the ramp. Disconnect the big red plug under the cowl and go out and run it, it won't hurt anything and if the engine runs fine for an extended period, it's not an engine problem. Of course you will have to reconnect the red plug to be able to shut the engine off when you're done with this test. Your engine generates its own electrical voltage to run so it only needs the battery to turn over the engine.

One thing to also consider, your engine must turn a minimum of 300 rpm cranking speed in order to light up the ignition system and have the engine fire up and run. A weak battery, bad starter, dirty corroded battery cables or connections or solenoid can cause low cranking speed and engine will not fire. Quick story; years ago we had a 115 Johnson in the shop for a similar issue. The engine had no fire when you cranked it with the starter so the first thing we thought was something bad in the ignition system but all the static engine tests came back OK, including checking the spark with the plugs out. (The engine turned over faster without compression so it had fire, put the plugs back in, no fire!) This engine did not appear to be cranking too slowly. Sure enough, if you pulled the engine over with a rope around the flywheel it would light up every time. With the starter, no fire. This made no sense since the engine did not need 12volts to run so even a high amperage starter draw would not take away from battery voltage to fire up the ignition like older battery ignition systems. We put a new battery in it, same thing! Somebody finally said, F#*^% it, put a new starter on it. Engine fired right up every time! So even though this starter appeared to turning the engine over fast enough, it was not! So after 5 hours of screwing with this engine, Lesson learned! That was 25 years ago and never forgot that one.

[ShawnsIronman]

Great information Fitz. Thank you.

Here are some responses to your suggestions:

1) After testing all the circuits, I finally determined that it was not the key switch.
2) I am not even sure if my Morse controls has a neutral safety switch. This somewhat concerns me, but that will have to be scheduled for another day.
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4) There is very little corrosion on this boat and one of the main reasons I bought it. The wiring also looks great and every wire tested great. Even at the key switch the wiring was in good shape because shrink wrap (or some other sealant) was used.

3) The solenoid was the culprit on this occasion. Fortunately my marine parts guy happened to be at the shop when I called and had one in stock. Looks like Sunday is going to be a day after all.   

Finally, one of the main reasons this Thread is short is because I was able to do a lot of research from previous threads and find the true issue quickly. Thank you all for all of your previous contributions. It really helped.