1999 60hp Mercury has no fire

[Mike R.]

I have a 1999 60hp Mercury that sat for two years. Tried to start it today and the engine poped once then would spin over with out firing. Checked and found no fire at the plugs. There is a fuse on the engine which checked good. I have no manual and am looking for suggestions where to start troubleshooting. Thanks for any input......Mike R.

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 1999 60hp Mercury has no fire

Make sure the battery is fully charges and all cable connections are clean and tight. There is a minimum cranking speed of 300 RPM or the ignition system will not function reliably to start.

Next, on the switchbox that has the green wires to the ignition coils, find the black wire with the thin yellow trace line and disconnect it from the wiring harness. Retest for spark, if it now sparks there is a ground in the wiring or ignition switch, killing spark. This wire is the 'ground-to-kill', the ignition switch should ground this wire to the solid black at the switch only with the key turned OFF, any ground otherwise and the switch may be bad.