‘77 Johnson 70hp Starter Troubleshooting

[saltchuckmatt]

That was step three haha. My push choke works so the fuse is working. Without the fuse, the choke doesn’t work.

I have another, better quality solenoid arriving tomorrow.

I found your problem. Evinrude doesn't use the I and the S on there's. The I stands for ignition and the S for start.

The S in this case means Start, but by completing the ground.

You have it wired in reverse. The hot signal wire goes to the top mini nut or what should be the I...and the ground goes to the S or the mini nut that's closer to the battery lead.

Switch them then enjoy life!

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Another possible issue is your starter wire looks awfully close to contacting a ground. Check clearances. Might have been a blessing in disguise that you wired the solenoid wrong...in fact I think maybe the solenoid is in its mount wrong. I have a 70 so I'll go check.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Well, this is an 1987 70 hp rude...it's mounted closer to the starter.

I'd make sure you have adequate clearance.

 

[HerrGruyere]

I found your problem. Evinrude doesn't use the I and the S on there's. The I stands for ignition and the S for start.

The S in this case means Start, but by completing the ground.

You have it wired in reverse. The hot signal wire goes to the top mini nut or what should be the I...and the ground goes to the S or the mini nut that's closer to the battery lead.

Switch them then enjoy life!

Thanks for this! I had it wired up that way at the start, though. I only switched based on a wiring diagram I found here and second guessed myself. I was still having the same issues, though.

New solenoid gets here tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Will report back.

Also, noted on the ground wire clearance. I’ll make sure everything is nice and spaced.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Threw the new solenoid on and …nothing. Tried jumping the positive to I post and nothing. I’m pretty stumped. The ground checks out, and everything else is grounded. I’m going to take some extra wire and mount it with the solenoid ground and use a fresh battery cable. Makes no sense I can’t jump the solenoid.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Threw the new solenoid on and …nothing. Tried jumping the positive to I post and nothing. I’m pretty stumped. The ground checks out, and everything else is grounded. I’m going to take some extra wire and mount it with the solenoid ground and use a fresh battery cable. Makes no sense I can’t jump the solenoid.

Show a picture of how you wired it

 

[HerrGruyere]

Show a picture of how you wired it

I did the ignition wire to I and ground to S. I threw that extra ground on there and still nothing. So weird!

 

[kd4pbs]

Just for giggles...
Put your voltmeter across the I and S terminals when you crank it and verify you're truly getting 12V across them. If you don't, then either the ground is not ground or the crank signal is not getting to the solenoid.

 

[HerrGruyere]

The funniest thing happened: I went to connect the battery to test some more, and it started cranking when I put the negative cable on the battery. The key was in my pocket. So, cables and solenoid all work. Ignition needs to be sorted.

Right?

 

[saltchuckmatt]

The funniest thing happened: I went to connect the battery to test some more, and it started cranking when I put the negative cable on the battery. The key was in my pocket. So, cables and solenoid all work. Ignition needs to be sorted.

Right?

Something is wonky. Take the ground off the s and ground the body of the solenoid.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Something is wonky. Take the ground off the s and ground the body of the solenoid.

I’ll try that. I have a new ignition on the way, too.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Something is wonky. Take the ground off the s and ground the body of the solenoid.

I found the wonky: the harness holder was grounding against the negative. Makes sense because it would only random start with the cover on.

I’m not getting continuity between the battery positive into solenoid and the main negative connection; but, good continuity between the solenoid into starter and the main negative. Also, no continuity between positive into solenoid and the I post. Found the fuse is cracked (possibly from when I dropped it), and the fuse doesn’t have good continuity.

Maybe new fuse and try the new positive cable again?

 

[saltchuckmatt]

I found the wonky: the harness holder was grounding against the negative. Makes sense because it would only random start with the cover on.

I’m not getting continuity between the battery positive into solenoid and the main negative connection; but, good continuity between the solenoid into starter and the main negative. Also, no continuity between positive into solenoid and the I post. Found the fuse is cracked (possibly from when I dropped it), and the fuse doesn’t have good continuity.

Maybe new fuse and try the new positive cable again?

Quite a bit of bad luck your having, might want to NOT go rock climbing.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Quite a bit of bad luck your having, might want to NOT go rock climbing.

You’re tellin’ me!

 

[Crosbyman]

Strange the fuse off the solenoid B+ from the battery feeds the choke cct and that was working ???

The same B+ fused supply gets sent to the solenoid during the momentary activation of START usually via some safety interrupt to ensure the engine is in neutral. Trouble shooting these simple circuits is best done by elimination process and individual component testing for opens shorts grounds and... missing grounds or extra grounds where they should not be any ...

the rest is just dirt, bad cabling, bad switches and frequently just bad crimps. the wiring diagrams available on MAX RULES can help even if the year is off a bit.

EVINRUDE JOHNSON Outboard Wiring Diagrams -- MASTERTECH MARINE --

WE HAVE PARTS AND DIAGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR EVINRUDE & JOHNSON OUTBOARD WIRING

maxrules.com

Hopefully all those black cats will find a new home.

 

[Crosbyman]

deleted

 

[racerone]

Buying new bits ( parts cannon ) gets expensive.-----Hard to believe we are at post #57 now.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Strange the fuse off the solenoid B+ from the battery feeds the choke cct and that was working ???

The same B+ fused supply gets sent to the solenoid during the momentary activation of START usually via some safety interrupt to ensure the engine is in neutral. Trouble shooting these simple circuits is best done by elimination process and individual component testing for opens shorts grounds and... missing grounds or extra grounds where they should not be any ...

the rest is just dirt, bad cabling, bad switches and frequently just bad crimps. the wiring diagrams available on MAX RULES can help even if the year is off a bit.

EVINRUDE JOHNSON Outboard Wiring Diagrams -- MASTERTECH MARINE --

WE HAVE PARTS AND DIAGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR EVINRUDE & JOHNSON OUTBOARD WIRING

maxrules.com

Hopefully all those black cats will find a new home.

View attachment 411271

I’m close to a Clark Griswold moment on this one. I’m sure the existing ground for the solenoid is fine. No need for my extra one.

Thank you, everyone, for your help so far! I know it’s something so simple and I’ll be mad when I find it. I’m gonna let it marinate for a while.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Buying new bits ( parts cannon ) gets expensive.-----Hard to believe we are at post #57 now.

I was certain this was a one and done.