Boat won’t shut off

[Albaj13]

Boat: 17’1994 Larson 174 sei
3.0 merc cruiser alpha one inboard/outboard

I’m having an issue where the boat dies when I put in neutral & also when I turn the ignition key to “off” the gauges shut off but the boat stays running . So, here’s what I figured out so far. I’ve showing like 2-3volts on the assist solenoid load wire (when unhooked to assistant solenoid )but I can’t trace it further . I have replaced the ignition switch. The coil. The cap/rotor/plugs/wires. Boat runs good/shifts forward and reverse but I have to leave it at small amounts of throttle to run and doesn’t shut off w the key. I have to manually move the kill switch arm to shut off the boat or let it idle to shut off

 

[Albaj13]

Boat:17’ 1994 Larson 174sei
3.0 merc cruiser inboard/outboard

Hey I’m working on my boat and I’m wondering if the orange wire under dash(looks like it goes to alternator) should have constant power or if it should be hooked up to an accessory prong that goes to the ignition ?

 

[alldodge]

Actually there should not be a orange wire under the helm. If it is coming from ALT it probably is hot all the time.

The hot wire going to the key switch should be Red/Purple

 

[alldodge]

I'm merging both your topics and putting them in the Merc section

 

[Albaj13]

What motor?

It’s a Chevy block.

 

[alldodge]

What year is the 3.0
never mind its a 94

 

[alldodge]

Which distributor does it have?
DDIS or EST
EST resembles a standard cap, the DDIS does not

 

[Albaj13]

Not sure if these pics help. I got a orange wire under the dash here

 

[Albaj13]

It looks like a regular distributor cap? Not sure the difference

 

[Albaj13]

This is when I had some plugs off but this is the cap

 

[alldodge]

Those wires have been added and are small so they probably go to something that was added like GPS, fish finder, etc

Thanks you have EST dizzy

 

[alldodge]

Motor not shutting off may be a bad key switch or other.
With voltmeter check for power on the purple wire with key off. If you have power with it off then disconnect purple wire and see if it goes dead.

If it does not go dead look for something miswired

 

[Albaj13]

Key switch unhooked has continuity of like 0.3ohm

 

[Albaj13]

I believe it’s not wired correctly at the fuse box under the dash. Could someone post a correct wiring picture of the fuse box? I can’t find anything online

 

[alldodge]

Should be looking for volts not ohms, unless your talking about across contacts

The original problem was motor won't shut OFF. If that's still true then there should be 12V on the coil with key OFF

 

[Albaj13]

When motor is off I have 2-3V At key switch (solenoid wire yellow/red) & it’s consist at the assist solenoid load wire(yellow/red) also showing same voltage of 2-3volts when motor is off and unhooked

 

[alldodge]

There are 2 small wires on the back of the ALT, disconnect them and see if voltage goes to zero

 

[Albaj13]

When the motor is off I do not have 12v at the ignition coil. I pulled the plug that goes into the coil and it’s dead. 0v. Assist Solenoid when off-I do have power of 12.6v(red) on that big post. No voltage at the big solenoid post(yellow/red wire on the post. However, the load side(yellow/red small post) of that assist solenoid is carrying 2-3V when OFF.

 

[Albaj13]

Ok thanks. I’m at work rn but I will this evening. I will say the other day I unplugged the alternator clip and it still ran so it’s drawing power from somewhere. Nightmare this season…

 

[Albaj13]

There are 2 small wires on the back of the ALT, disconnect them and see if voltage goes to zero

Should there be power present with it unhooked and motor off? 12.6v?