4.3 omc cobra 1989 assist solinoid

[Stanp1]

Folks

I have no power from the main wire harness to the ignition key and instument panel. There is a red/purple wire that is suposed to feed power to the ingnition key. The red/purple from the starter soliniod goes to an assist soliniod and then to the ignition key. Fuse looks fine. My only conclusion is the assist soliniod or starter soliniod is bad. Any safe way to check with a volt meter? I am trying to avoid sticking a screwdriver to the back of the starter soliniod. I must be geting old.

 

[Stanp1]

Re: 4.3 omc cobra 1989 assist solinoid

Any takers? Am I missing any details?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 4.3 omc cobra 1989 assist solinoid

The battery connects to the starter with the main battery cable. Form there, there is a wire that goes to a fusible link and then that wire goes through the engine harness up to your fuse panel at your helm. At the fuse panel, you will have an ignition fuse with the wire leaving the fuse that goes to your ignition switch. From your ignition switch, two wires are sent back to the engine connector. One wire is for the ignition and one wire is for the starter solenoid. On that year Cobra, you may or may not have an assist solenoid between the starter wire and the starter solenoid.

Check for voltage at your fuse panel to see if you are getting power from the main feed. If you aren't, remove all the connections at the starter and take them off and clean all of them to bare metal and reinstall. Make sure you remove the negative terminal from the battery before you do this. These connections at the starter are where I have had problems in the past.