Mercury outboard no power to engine/ tilt

[Topless69gt]

I have a 2005 pontoon boat with a 50 hp Mercury engine (50ELPTO). It was running great and then all of a sudden the engine won’t turn over and no power to either tilt switch. When I bought the boat it came with a new Mercury throttle assembly ( with a new neutral safety switch) and a new ignition switch. I went ahead and put both of those on and no change. I am getting 12.9 volts to the starter solenoid. All the lights and radio are getting power and work properly. I am not sure if this a ground issue? I have checked every fuse on the boat and the fuse in the motor. All were fine. When I turn the key to try and start it, there is no sound at all. No clicking or anything. I also replaced the battery because the one in the boat was quite old. I did not replace the battery cables but they appear to be much newer than the boat and look to be in good condition. Not sure what to look at next. Any help or suggestions would be appreciate.

 

[alldodge]

Welcome
Check fuses, then check connections. Use your meter to check power at the key

 

[flashback]

Maybe the solenoid has failed?

 

[Chris1956]

Did you check the neutral safety switch? Power needs to go thru that on its way from the ign key to the starter solenoid primary winding. If the switch is open (like the motor is in gear), no power reaches the starter solenoid primary winding, and the starter doesn't operate.

If that 12.9VDC you have is on the solenoid primary, then the next check is for ground on the other side of the solenoid primary winding. On Mercs it is just a ground wire.

Also. Mercs often have a dedicated ground wire on the starter, as they are often mounted in rubber. Those can go bad.

 

[Topless69gt]

I got it figured out this morning with the advice from this post.

There are three positive wires that connect to the battery. One is on a 20 amp in line fuse that operates the lights independent of the ignition switch. The second one is the large main battery cable that goes to the outboard motor. The third one is a 14 or 16 gauge wire with a 10 amp in line fuse That goes to the ignition switch. This was the problem. I was getting voltage to the fuse but not at the ignition switch. The power trim also was pulling its power from this source prior to the ignition switch. That explains why the boat was not attempting to start when I turned the key and the trim was also inoperable. I ran a temporary wire from the battery and joined it to the trim and ignition switch junction. I was getting 12.9 volts now where it was not before. The boat turned over and the trim worked. I am going to pull the old wire and run a new one with the in-line fuse. I did cut the fuse out and attached the old wiring directly to the battery and no power to the ignition switch. So the wiring was the issue and the fuse tested fine. Problem solved.
Thank you to everyone for your help.