What's this wire for?

[Grnbasser]

I have a 1983 Mercury 150hp Blackmax outboard. Went out fishing and the boat just wouldn't plane even at full throttle. The engine would rev up a little but not enough to get the boat going. I took the cover off and notice a brittle, broken wire coming out of the triangle thing next to the spark plug. The wire runs down to where I'm pointing in the 2nd picture. Does anyone know what this wire is for and can it be the reason my outboard has no power when trying to accelerate? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[GA_Boater]

Temperature or overheat sensor. On that motor the busted wire may limit power for a detected overheat.

 

[Grnbasser]

Temperature or overheat sensor. On that motor the busted wire may limit power for a detected overheat.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll order the part. Should be an easy replacement.

 

[Dukedog]

won't do anything to tha way it runs.. all it does is sound over heat buzzer.. need ta do a comp test first..

 

[Grnbasser]

I will do the compression test as well. Thanks

 

[racerone]

And test for strong spark on all 6 leads too.