1977 johnson 85 starter issue

[jason803]

Hello ... This might sound crazy but I took my starter off my boat took it to a shop ordered a brand new one. Now I need to put the new one on and I can't figure out where the 2 wires that came off it go. there is one black and one red wire. I am thinking the black one goes to a screw on the side of the starter and the red goes one of the mounting screws. But the red wire will not fit the mounting screw through it the hole is to small. I am using the same screws that came out and the starters are identical. Any ideas maybe I am wiring this wrong. I know I should have took pictures before disconnected but I was thinking 2 wires 3 bolts how hard could this be. I have been searching the internet for hours looking for videos,diagrams,instructions anything to help with no luck. So please if you have information that could lead to my boat getting some fish in it that would be great.

Thanks
Jason

[tashasdaddy]

red one goes to the bolt on the side, black to the mounting bolt.

[ezeke]

The red wire connects to the single electrical post (8 in the thumbnail) at the base of the starter.

The ground for the starter is through the three mounting bolts.

The black wire is probably your primary battery ground and should be bolted on clean bare metal to the engine block. There were no external ground wires on OMC V4 starters.

[kenmyfam]

Hello ... This might sound crazy but I took my starter off my boat took it to a shop ordered a brand new one. Now I need to put the new one on and I can't figure out where the 2 wires that came off it go. there is one black and one red wire. I am thinking the black one goes to a screw on the side of the starter and the red goes one of the mounting screws. But the red wire will not fit the mounting screw through it the hole is to small. I am using the same screws that came out and the starters are identical. Any ideas maybe I am wiring this wrong. I know I should have took pictures before disconnected but I was thinking 2 wires 3 bolts how hard could this be. I have been searching the internet for hours looking for videos,diagrams,instructions anything to help with no luck. So please if you have information that could lead to my boat getting some fish in it that would be great.

Thanks
Jason

That is the joy of having a digital camera. Take photos of everything before, during and after teardown. You then have a reference at rebuild and can delete the photos afterwards if you choose to.

[carter7979]

i have a late 70's johnson 85hp that needs a starter anyone have one?

[jason803]

Thanks for the replies. I got it hooked up but now I am thinking it's the solenoid. I tried jumping past the solenoid and got it spinning but not started didn't want to push my luck to much there was alot of sparks. Any idea's if solenoid is problem


Thanks
Jason

[tashasdaddy]

90% of starter problems are bad connections. remove and clean both ends of the battery cables, so that they are shiney, also the cable from the solenoid to starter. check for nicks in the cables. and make sure the connectors are on the wire good. the cable tend to corrode from the inside out, if nicked, corroded wires, and connections, heat up and cause resistance to the follow of electricity, thus the starter doesn't get enough. you can also take jumper cable pos battery post to large post on starter. with a good connection, the engine should spin. then if the starter is good clean everything and retest. then trouble shoot solenoid. starters can be rebuit at a starter/alternator shop, much cheaper than a new one.

also have the battery load tested at the auto parts store, free, i've had new batteries go bad

[ezeke]

Click the thumbnail in my earlier (3) entry so that you can see the numbers, then connect a short lead from 3 to 6 on the starter solenoid to jump the solenoid. It will either work or not and without all of the sparks. If you disconnect the large red plug at the engine, you can eliminate the control cable as part of your problem.

Let us know what happens.

[jason803]

I don't know how it happened but the engine fired ... I went out to try to bypass solenoid jumping from 2 to 6 and decided maybe I should hook ground directly to the engine block instead of outside of bracket holding solenoid on. tried passing from 2 to 6 alot of sparks again. turned the key 1 good time and boom she was running. I dont know if it was the ground or shocking the crap out of the solenoid.

Thanks so much for the help. I am glad I found this site

Jason

[ezeke]

Well I misstated that; should have said 3 to 6 as 2 to 6 would short. Anyway, you got a good ground from #2 to the block and that's apparently what you needed.