1994 Force 50 hp won't crank, not even a noise when you put the key in start position

[djsforce]

Tried several things today but didn't even get it to click or make any noises. Some background, it ran great, but had water leaking at the adapter plate. So I removed all the electrical components to get the power head off. I took photos and zip tied sticky notes all over it so I could put it back together correctly. After reassembly, it hasn't cranked. Battery reads 12.37V and on the solenoid the positive terminal reads 12.3V and the yellow wire with a red stripe reads about 12.2V when the key is put to the start position, but I'm not getting any voltage to the positive wire from the solenoid that goes to the starter. I've re-checked all my connections that I did from the adapter plate work, checked the connections on the key switch, checked the fuse on the accessory positive wire from the battery, checked the 20 amp fuse at the coils. I have a used spare solenoid that I also tried, with no luck. My switch at the controls is in the "run" position. The only other wires I touched is I cut the wires to my inboard fuel tank since I removed it, and taped them. I also removed my lower unit to replace the water pump impeller and it I physically checked that it is in neutral when I'm trying to start. Do I have a possible bad ground with the solenoid? If the motor thinks it's not in neutral, does it have a sensor that won't let it crank? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Jiggz]

You seem to have checked everything except for the neutral safety switch.

 

[djsforce]

Thanks, I will check that switch. I also have a 1991 35 hp force, and the neutral safety switch is obvious, located where the shifting takes place on the side of the powerhead. There isn't an obvious neutral safety switch on this 1994. Looking at wiring diagrams, my wiring seems to be 1995. This motor has a Mercury ignition system and it uses Mercury controls. Some online research, maybe Mercury put the neutral safety switch in the controls?

 

[Frank Acampora]

If you have Merc 3000 controls the neutral safety IS inside the control box.. Temporarily jump battery red on the solenoid to the yellow and see if the solenoid closes and starter cranks.

 

[djsforce]

Thanks for the replies and yes, I have the Merc 3000 controls. I didn't get to spend much time on it today. With the key in "on", using a wire to touch the battery red to the solenoid yellow didn't make the starter do anything. Having someone in the boat turn the key to the "start" position does make the yellow wire read slightly over 12 Volts. I hope to check out how to get to the neutral safety switch later this week, but at first glance, Merc didn't make the 3000 easy to access like the old US Marine controls.

 

[NYBo]

Since you are getting power to the yellow wire, the neatral safety switch isn't the problem.

If the solenoid doesn't click, either there is no ground to it or it's bad. If it clicks, you should get approximately 12 volts on the starter side of the solenoid.

 

[djsforce]

Thanks for everyones help, I got it cranking tonight! The ground was bad/wrong. Using my multi-meter, I compared the ground on the solenoid to another Force Motor using ohms. It was driving me crazy trying to understand what was going on. Anyway, I was in the process of making a ground wire to go directly from the solenoid to the to battery ground at the powerhead when I remembered finding one ground wire I that didn't have a label on it when I re-assembled the wiring. I had attached it to one of the coil plate bolts. So tonight, I took that ground wire off the coil plate bolt and added it to the other solenoid ground wire…..and I now have a motor that cranks again. It was dark by the time I got to it, and I hope my neighbours will forgive me, but the sound was awesome!