Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

My 85 sea ray has a 5.7L with a omc stringer out drive. Do you happen to have the drawings for that? That would be very helpful. The back of my ignition does not have The "I" It only has A = Accessory B = Battery S = Starter and then 2 "M's" and I am not sure what those are for. If I hook the Orange to "B" The Black to "S" and the yellow to "A" it will start and run but wont shut off. If i connect the purple to any of those posts when the switch is in the off position and the engine is running it will not shut off. I have tested the Ignition switch and it seems to be fine. I am sure I have a wire crossed but it is 100 degrees and there is no shade so I am sure I have got confused somehow. then frustration sets in and I forgot where I was when I start moving wires around

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

Sounds like the wrong ign switch.
Orange is the battery supply or feed, yellow/red is the solenoid, and purple is the ign.Should only have 3 terminals

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

The two "M"s are for grounding out the magnetos on an outboard. You don't use them. A will go to your ignition. You switch is off/on and start right? No accessory position?

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

Well, the switch has what I would call a accessory position. I can turn it one click to turn on power to the radio and lights and whatnot then a "spring loaded" position to start. does that make sense? So off one click right for power and one more (not really a click) to start.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

Wow, I have been called out by name. :redface:

I don't have any drawings for OMC specific engines. I think the color code is fairly universal. I also think the "cannon plug" at the engines are fairly standard also. I am not certain, though.

I think you need to trace out your wires and verify which one is which.

The Accessory terminal would be the equivalent to the "B" terminal in the drawing I posted, I think. The drawing I posted showed that terminal common with the Battery connection to all the gauges. And that terminal is what powers them up when the switch is "on".

The Starter "S" terminal would be the equivalent to the "I" terminal on the drawing I posted. The wire that goes there should be the one that goes down to the starter solenoid. On the drawings I have (Mercruiser specific) the wire goes to the throttle control lever, where the "Safety/Neutral Switch" is located, and then continues on to the solenoid.

I hope this provides some help.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

B=Battery
A=Igniton
S=Starter solenoid

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

This drawing should help

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

Based on the colors you mentioned, it seems your dash has different wires than the drawing I posted. The oldest drawing I could find was for an 86 model. The quality of the scan was pitiful, so it's not very informative for what colors the wires are. The best I can tell, though, they are the same as in that drawing (I posted that one cause it was the clearest to read).

The confusing part is that it looks like purple wires go to two different posts. You would need to tract out the wires and see where they go to determine which purple wire is which for your application. As far as your black wire, I don't know. Once again, you will need to do some wire tracing.

A multimeter might help you out. Check for 12 volts and you will know which wire is supposed to go to your "B" terminal. I would bet the yellow wire you have goes to the "S" terminal.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

ken_23434 said:

I would bet the yellow wire you have goes to the "S" terminal.

Click to expand...

That would be my bet too. First use the multimeter to find which one is 12V all the time. Quickly touch it to the yellow wire to see if the starter engages. That will tell you everything you need to know.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

UPDATE:

I called my local shop and they told me Orange > b Purple > a and with the drawing you gave me the yellow goes to S.

The good news is, everyting seems to be working. all the gauges and the tils and trim. but it still wont shut off. I think I am just going to install a kill switch. But I still have that pesky black wire. I am sure it has some importance. I will update one I get it all worked out and THANK YOU GUYS ofr all your rapid responses.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

Have you replaced your alternator lately? Where does the black wire go to?

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

I dont know about the black wire. but I installed the kill switch and all is well!!

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

If the engine keeps running when the key is turned to "off" the coil is still getting +12 volts from somewhere. That's the only way that can happen.

I would disconnect the wire (or wires) from the "A" terminal of your ignition switch and check them for voltage. The negative lead of your multimeter needs to go to a wire directly connected to the (-) terminal of the batter, or you need to run a long extension to the battery to make sure you have a good ground for the multimeter. I would suspect that you have +12 volts on one of the wires connected to the "A" terminal, even when those wires are disconnected from the ignition switch.

If there is only 1 wire at the "A" terminal and it has +12 volts, then somewhere that wire is tied into the (+) terminal of the battery before it gets to the coil.

If there is more than 1 wire at the "A" terminal, then make sure they are separate and figure out which one has the +12 volts. I would suspect that the wire with the +12 volts is NOT the one going to the coil and when both wires are connected to the ignition switch "A" terminal it is accidently applying the +12 volts to the coil.

One last thing. You stated you checked out the switch and it was "OK". If you do a resistance check between the "A" and "B" terminals with the switch in "OFF", you should see an open. It should be a short when the switch is "ON". If it is a short when the switch is off, then the problem is with the switch.

Good luck.

Re: Help me agian Ken 23434 ?????????

It is possible that the alternator is causing the run on if you had changed it recently. You can disconnect the alternator and try again and see if the engine stays running.