Drew, it’s time to get this boat in the water now that it purrs! Congrats on that!
Yet you still need to attack this ‘head scratcher’ so let’s tackle it one logical step at a time. First off need a wiring diagram and multimeter. I have found one that may represent yours that AllDodge posed on this
link, post No. 3. Here is another one
link, see post No. 4.
- Note: the below assumes you have a good solid battery and no issues with corrosion, etc at the terminals or engines block ground / starter, etc.
That 10-pin connector (item 4 in both diagrams) is the connection to the helm wiring harness. All your ignition key, etc. ‘signals and power’ come thru that. Given your funky symptoms (it changes) that says to me there is an
intermittent problem(s). So, suggest a couple of things to get going and perhaps you already did:
Check the 10-pin connector thoroughly > look for any corrosion, pushed back pins, kinked or broken wires (hard to tell if wire is broken under its insulation by looking, so feel each wire between your fingers like giving it a massage). Even if all looks good, see if you can brighten up the male / female connectors a little bit > for the female using a straightened-out paper clip and shoving it in there and for the pins, scraping down with a straight blade small screwdriver will do the trick.
Next, if by yourself (but if have a helper can skip this ‘bypass’ step), bypass the ignition switch by using jumpers > get a good diagram of how its currently wired and then after pulling off all the connectors, use a multimeter to determine what spade terminals connect when the key is turned to the “Run” and the “Start” positions.
Now
pull out the relays associated with the fuel pump and starter and note the terminal that would become HOT on turning the key to Start. In other words, the wire that would become +12V when the key is turned to Start (I think its terminal no. 86). It seems you have found this terminal per your post 1, so idea is to monitor this +!2V to
BOTH these relays at the SAME time (get 2 x 12V cheap test lights to make it easy, key is both at SAME time).
Now if you do not have a helper, jump the wires that would be connected in the Start position. If you have a helper, simply turn and HOLD the key to the Start position. Since the relays are pulled no starting and no fuel.
But should have both lights light up. Assuming they do jiggle the 10-pin connector and in general jiggle all the wires that connect to the relay sockets, and more.
- If any of the lights blink or only one light lights up > success! There is a bad connection or wire and need to tease it out.
- If both the lights stay solid, have a beer and try again
Post results and we’ll go from there….
To the community: all other suggestions welcome!
