89 15hp Mercury

16ftsunbird · Sep 2, 2017

I have a 1989 15hp i started it up today a couple of times because it has'nt been run in awhile i noticed when i went to shut it off the kill switch would'nt do ti so i used the switch on the side however i did push the kill switch very hard so i went to start it again and it would'nt start i have no fire on i think it would be the # 1 coil or top cyl so i change the plugs around to elimate a plug both are good so then i switch coils around and what i think is # 1 coil after switching around it fires and no fire from the other coil after changing around so i guess the question i need to ask does the kill switch kill both cyl's or does it just kill what i'm calling the # 1 which is the upper cyl if so how can i test the kill switch to see if it's stuck or do i have another problem

flyingscott · Sep 3, 2017

Kill switch will affect both cylinders not just one. Do a proper spark test because that motor should start and run on 1 cylinder.

Scott Danforth · Sep 3, 2017

My guess the kill switch has corrosion in it, and when you pushed hard, it is now making permanent contact

16ftsunbird · Sep 3, 2017

Ok guys maybe i was'nt clear at the start it did not start and run on 1 cyl it had fire on both and started it ran fine i shut it down with the switch after the kill switch would'nt because of a small fuel leak then started it back up to see if i got the fuel leak stopped still had a small leak then tried to start back it would'nt i ck for fire had it on bottom cyl nothing on top so i switched plugs to see if i fouled 1 but it would fire on bottom coil so i changed coils arounds to see it the coil went out after moving top coil to bottom it would fire but no fire from bottom #coil on # 1 cyl at that point so i put it back like it was still have no fire on # 1 or cyl but i do have fire on # 2 what other test can i run