Anyone out there know about evinrude controls??? would love to get boat back in!!!

[finestkind]

hello i was wondering if anyone new about evinrude controls. my boat sank a month ago, it's running great now as long as i disconect the harness if i plug the harness back in it stalls out. I brought it to a mechanic and he got it going for me and told me it was all set that he fixed the kill switch. well i have a feeling he screwed something up. this mechanic was a nightmare. I told him the boat sunk and after 2 days and three hundred later he said "how much do you want to put into this engine and do you know it has sunk". I told him yes i know it sunk thats why i brought it to you. which i told him on the phone before i brought it to him and told him again, what happened when i dropped the boat off. so i asked why what does it need and he said he's got three hundred into it and it needs a new starter and i told him that the starter is fine i've been jump starting and getting it running by jumping the starter. He then got mad and said " i think i know if a starter is bad i've been doing this for forty years" so i said do wat you gotta do. the following day he said, " well i got good news and bad news, good news is you got a starter for free and bad news is i can't keep guessing what is wrong and putting money into it when i may be wrong." so i asked why i got a starter for free and he told me "my starter was fine and that it was a bad ground." I told you this guy was nuts!!! so the next day i was heading to pick up my boat and he called me and said i'm glad you didn't pick it up cause i thought about it all night and figured it out. "your kill switch was bad and your alarm kept going off because it got fried so i fixed the kill switch and bypassed the alarm." so i said okay what do i owe you? 550 he say's so i was a little annoyed but hell it's fixed and i'm gettting back on the water. so i payed him and picked it up brought it home and nothing. wouldn't run, still messed up. so i started to play with it myself and figured out that when i disconnect the harness it runs beautiful and when i plug it back in it stalls. I'm assuming it has to do with the kill switch but don't know about wiring. I really think it's something simple and would really like to fix it instead of buying a new throttle for 367, so i took apart the throttle and just stare and scratch my head. if anyone has any diagrams or know where i should look them up I'd greatly appreciate it!!!!! I just wanna go back in the water and go fishing before the summer is over!!!! thanks again if you bothered to read my nightmare!!!

thanks again,
Finest Kind
Tom Johnson

[thehermit]

Evinrude "controls" are mechanical. Other than the TNT wires (red/blue/green) I believe the "kill" switch wire is black with a yellow stripe. I have also seen them Yellow with a red stripe. Or this could be the nuetral safety switch wire...i.e wont allow you to start in gear. Your book will tell you. Those circuts need to be closed.

1st...what year/brand/hp is this motor? I may have an older red-plug harness.

[hermco]

Neutral safety also goes to the control, should be yellow with red stripe. Goes to a micro switch on the control.

[martin]

Probably nuetral safty switch.. But don,t take my word,, just a hunch.. But hey its free

[WildBill]

As you disasemble each piece make sure it is dry any spray it down with a water disapating spray such as WD40 and let it dry. If it carries a DC electrical supply make sure it is dry before energizing the circuit. Unfortunately you can or any mechanic most likely will have a high chance of chasing these ghosts. If the boat was totally submerged with the batteries under water as in with my personal experience (only 5 hours tied up to the dock)all the wiring eventually became corroded and had to be replaced, and you should have seen my new untreated fuel tank. If you go down this road start by cleaning and replacing the electrical connectors. Use an electrical inhibitor on all connections. This will not gaurentee the wiring will not eventually fail. Salt water and a DC current are tough on equipment, if you climbed in the boat while it was submerged you would have noticed everything was energized. It's no big deal but it will be a inconvienance.

good luck and always check your bilge pump and float switch
wildbill

[pelican]

Originally Posted by WildBill

As you disasemble each piece make sure it is dry any spray it down with a water disapating spray such as WD40 and let it dry. If it carries a DC electrical supply make sure it is dry before energizing the circuit. Unfortunately you can or any mechanic most likely will have a high chance of chasing these ghosts. If the boat was totally submerged with the batteries under water as in with my personal experience (only 5 hours tied up to the dock)all the wiring eventually became corroded and had to be replaced, and you should have seen my new untreated fuel tank. If you go down this road start by cleaning and replacing the electrical connectors. Use an electrical inhibitor on all connections. This will not gaurentee the wiring will not eventually fail. Salt water and a DC current are tough on equipment, if you climbed in the boat while it was submerged you would have noticed everything was energized. It's no big deal but it will be a inconvienance.

good luck and always check your bilge pump and float switch
wildbill

very true !

if the batteries were "hot",as in charged,the aluminum will oxidize,including fuel tanks,and any aluminum pipe work...

submersion in saltwater - you're gonna need to rewire that boat,and replace all the electrical components on that engine...

[pelican]

just reread this:

the neutral start wire - off the engine harness it's yellow/red tracer - runs to control box- should come out as 2 black wires - parallel "bonded" duplex ...

black/yellow tracer is "kill" circuit - kill switch should have 3 wires - if it's factory - 2 black/yellow tracer and black - ground...

[Rainmaker]

you can disconnect the kill switch wire at the motor (see above, black with yellow tracer) if you remove it at the motor and kill switch is the issue the boat will start. You then have to ground the spot where it connects at the motor to shut off the boat. Not sure how that wire is connected on your motor, you may have to cut it. On my etech I had to cut it, I crimped a disconnect there for future needs.

[76Red18]

Try it with your tach disconnected.

[Handful in NC]

Somthing else to consider...

I've had several occasions when an Evinrude motor wouldn't start due to an ignition switch problem, each time a long way from good tools, good help, or a tow. After my first experience, a mechanic friend showed me how how to unplug the wiring harness to bypass the ignition switch (and the kill switch too I assume) and jump start the motor by bridging the starter solenoid. It's kind of scary to do because you get a big ass spark when you make contact, due to the high current flow. The running engine was stoppd by reconnecting the wiring harness. I'll get to my point shortly...

A side story - one of these events was on a new rental boat with a poorly located key switch. A buddy bumped the key getting ready for a dive and broke it off flush in the switch. We couldn't for the life of us figure out a way to turn the key without any tools and we were miles from any help. We did the above trick and got home fine.

Back to the problem... my limited understanding is that the ignition key switch stops the engine by grounding out the ignition system, which is why the engine will run without the harness connected. This switch was the problem for me several times. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to change out. If your boat has been submerged, you can bet water got into the switch. It might dry out and work fine, but eventually it will corrode and fail again. Best to replace it - or practice making big sparks at the starter solenoid!