Identification of a wire that's been cut off on both ends (WITH PICTURES)

[Corec]

Hi all!

I have a 17' 1990 Mach 1 with a 3.0 L OMC Cobra (not King). I believe the model is the "Spoiler" if that makes any difference. This was our old family boat, and my dad handed it down to me last summer.

I was going through my de-winterization/summerization procedure, and I came across a wire that has been cut off on both ends. The wire is purple with a white stripe, and it's encased in a black sheath. It starts behind the alternator and ends behind the valve cover. There are no remnants that I can find and I don't see anywhere that it looks like it should have been hooked up.

It's bundled with the other wires that are coming off of the back of the alternator and the loose end by the alternator is about 3" long.



On the other end, the wire comes out of the sheath directly behind the valve cover, and the loose end is about 8" long.





Please help me identify this wire. I'm not sure what it was for and my dad wasn't aware of it. I might not even have noticed it if I hadn't pulled the valve cover off.

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: Identification of a wire that's been cut off on both ends (WITH PICTURES)

The Purple/white wire is for the electric choke.
Should hook to the AC terminal on the alternator and on the choke coil.

 

[Corec]

Re: Identification of a wire that's been cut off on both ends (WITH PICTURES)

Thanks, Don. As soon as it stops raining, I'll get the cover off and take a look!

Forgive my ignorance, but all of my vehicles have been fuel injected, so I've never actually torn apart a carb bigger than the one on my lawn mower. I would say that the engine on my boat is generally somewhat hard starting (i.e. - it takes two turns of the key to get it going). However, if my choke is not operable, I would figure that it would be much harder or even impossible to start. Do you know what I should expect for symptoms?

Also, and this may be something of a rhetorical question, but what would motivate someone to disconnect the choke?

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Identification of a wire that's been cut off on both ends (WITH PICTURES)

If it ain't broke don't fix it...

 

[Corec]

Re: Identification of a wire that's been cut off on both ends (WITH PICTURES)

Good point.