ignition problem. please help

Hello everyone,

I am a novice when it comes to outboards so be kind. I recently bought a 1996 starcraft superfisherman 170 with a 1996 90hp force on it. I had the earmuffs on it and it started right up but when i turned the key to off position it didnt stop running. I had to pull the gas lines. I then checked the ignition wires and there was a burnt wire that i replace.( it was a solid black wire that was piggy backed off one of the original 6 wires. I tried it again and same exact results. Then I followed the black wire with yellow strip to the kill switch (whitch doesnt work either) and to the motor seemed to be fine i also pulled all the 6 wires and checked them and then replugged them back in. I tried to start the motor and now it doesnt even turn over. What did I do? PLEASE HELP

Re: ignition problem. please help

Black with yellow trace is the stop wire and if you have it grounded, the engine will not start. Black with yellow should connect to one "M" terminal on the ignition switch. A ground wire should connect to the other "M" terminal. The terminal with the black/yellow should also connect to the kill switch and again, the other side of the kill switch should be grounded (usually to the control box if it is metal.

There is a separate neutral interlock switch built into the control box. If the control handle is not in neutral position, the engine will not crank over. I think those wires are yellow with a red tracer.

That said, I did work on a Force engine where the stop wire was cut off at the connecter. I repaired it and the engine just would not start. I ended by cutting it again and running a separate stop wire from the engine to the ignition switch.

Re: ignition problem. please help

Thanks Frank,

I will check on all that this weekend