1975 70 HP Johnson - black/yellow wire removed from power pack problems

[bid_360]

I am very new to boat motors. I could not get a spark to the plugs, so I removed the black yellow ground wire (???) from the power pack and the engine fired right up. I had to touch the wire back to the spot to stop the engine. I'm wondering where do I start to try and fix this problem?
My engine was working fine last year. I didn't mess with the ignition switch or any of the wiring and started having this problem. I did unhook the battery at the end of last season and have hooked it back up this year.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bid_360]

Re: 1975 70 HP Johnson - black/yellow wire removed from power pack problems

Anyone?

 

[tmfeaster]

Re: 1975 70 HP Johnson - black/yellow wire removed from power pack problems

That is your kill switch wire. If it doesn't start with it plugged up and it does start with it taken off then there is something wrong with your kill switch. The clip is not on kill switch next to the cockpit or throttle, the kill switch is bad or the wiring has gone bad.

 

[bruce--69]

Re: 1975 70 HP Johnson - black/yellow wire removed from power pack problems

On that old of a boat/motor, you probably dont have a kill lanyard, so that probably not the problem. If there is one, it has been added, and that can be the problem. Otherwise unhook the black/yellow wire from the back of the key switch and see if that works. If so, you have a bad key switch. If the key switch is in the control box, its easier said than done. But like the last post said, that is the wire that grounds out your power pack to shut your engine off. Somewhere that wire is grounded and keeping it from sparking.