Lanyard Kill Switch

pete44

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
189
Hello again. Have an 87 Searay Seville with 3.0 mercruiser I/O. I need to know where to wire the red wire (under dash/helm) from the switch. The black wire is going to the ground lugs on fuel meter.
 

UncleWillie

Captain
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
3,995
It sounds like some one was in there before you.

The Lanyard switch is normal in series with the power to the ignition.
On todays boats, the IGN power from the key switch will pass through the Lanyard switch on the way to the motor. No Ground involved.

It is possible that your switch was meant to ground out the points on the Ign Coil to kill the engine.
In that case, the Red wire would attach to the coil wire that leads to the points.
This would work, but it would also be a bad way to do it as once you shorted out the points, the coil is going to be getting hot.
It would be the same situation as turning on the key with the points closed and not starting the engine. Not Fatal, but not a good idea.

In the RUN position, Is your lanyard switch Open or Closed?
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
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Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
Ayuh,..... Donno what yer lookin' at, but it oughta be in-line on a purple wire,.... No red, No black wires,...
 

UncleWillie

Captain
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
3,995
+1^^^ Agree!
I don't know if they did it completely different back in in 1987, but it doesn't sound correct at all.
Unless Pete gets back with some answers, it sounds like his kill switch is on the dash on the helm and not on the throttle assembly.
That makes me think this has been severely Rednecked. :eek:
Or as you suspect, he is looking at something else that is not the kill switch wiring.
 

smokeonthewater

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
9,838
Nothing wrong with a kill switch on the dash

Grounding to kill would be correct if it were an older outboard.

It sounds like he is installing it new himself and was trying to hook it up that way...

Since it's a switched 12v ign instead of a magneto it, as mentioned above, needs to go inline with the ign lead from the ign switch.
 

pete44

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
189
Thanks all for the replies. Again, It is the kill switch at the dash/helm. You hook your lanyard to it and the other end to yourself and if you hit a log or God forbid another boat and you get thrown out it in turn pulls the lanyard out of switch thus killing engine. Bad feeling you get thrown out of your own boat and you're in the water and you see your own boat's bow coming straight for you full speed. It is an I/O by the way. And it has been installed since I have had the boat (12 years) and since rebuilding my boat the red wire got jerked out somehow from kill switch. The switch has one red wire and one black wire out of it. The black wire goes to the fuel gauge ground. The red wire goes to switched 12V on ignition switch then.I tested the switch with a meter and it still works good (I'm impressed being its 28 years old) Wish the rest of the boat could have been built like that. That's enough wining from me.Thanks all! I'll give it a try (and test it of course)
 

UncleWillie

Captain
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
3,995
The question still remains...
"In the RUN position, Is your lanyard switch Open or Closed?"
What you have fine if it works. It is just that it is not in the typical configuration.

As stated, MerCruiser usually kills the engine by removing power from the ignition. (The Purple Wires)
If your kill switch has one end attached to ground, we will have to assume that the switch grounds out something to kill the engine.
This will be confirmed if the switch is OPEN in the RUN Position.

A second assumption is that the engine will still start and run with the mystery Red Wire detached. Correct?

Is the Red Wire Broken or Unplugged?
Is the end of the wire a frayed mess or is there a connector on it? What type of connector?
Does the back of the switch have any other connections other than the two wires already mentioned?

Without all these tedious questions we can only guess at what you have.
We are hundreds of miles away trying to picture what is painfully obvious to you because you are looking right at it.
Bare with us.
 
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