HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

[K.Smith]

1985 Mercury 175hp Black Max<br /><br />I went to start my motor after being out on the water for a while and when I turned the key NOTHING. There is no pre starting beeps, nothing happens. I have power to EVERYTHING else on my boat. I have checked my fuses, checked my kill switch, checked and made sure it was in nuetral, and checked to make sure my battery connections were tight and free of corrosion. Ids there something I am over looking? HELP, I would like to try and fix the problem myself before sending it inot the shop. Thanks for your help, K.Smith

 

[Hooty]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

When you say you checked the fuses, I assume you checked the 20 amp fuse at the engine. If so, disconnect the cable connector at the control and see if you have 12vdc at nr. 8 pin. If you have power there, I would suspect the ignition switch.<br /><br />c/6<br />Hooty

 

[KCLOST]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

There is more than one fuse at the engine... You need to check them both. They are both on the starboard (drivers) side with red wires. One will control power to the entire boat and the other I'm not sure about. I lost a fuse last summer and lost all power, replaced it and was good to go. You can also jump from the solenoid to the starter to see if it turns over. If so it's most likely a fuse.

 

[arboatdr]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

check the harness connection at the engine. these pins can lose connection from time to time. Also make sure the battery cables are tight. Use a pair of pliers to tighten them. If that doesn't fix it start looking for a hard ben in the battery cables or the control box harness. A lot of times a wire will break in the harness itself.

 

[gss036]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

I go along with Arboatdr, mine did the same thing last fall and the harness,(which is tucked in on the starboard side of the engine), turned out to be the culprit. The pins had corrision and shorted across burning the connections. Since it is an 1989 motor, we just cut out the plug and wired it up w/o the plug. Saves about $300 for the harnesses and works just great. Make sure you use heat shrink type covers on the connections.

 

[JoeW]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

Me too! I've had the same problem with the harness connector. I didn't have any corrision, but somehow the ignition pin was not connecting. A simple unplug & plug back in did the trick.

 

[K.Smith]

Re: HELP!!! Turn key and NOTHING happens

Thanks Everyone!!!! I Beleive it was just a loose connection. I checked both fuses on the motor and although they were both fine, when I reconnected them I had power. Looks like I will just have to wait and see if it happens again, if so thanks to everyones posts i will know where to look. Thanks again