Interrupter Switch

[Cisco1]

Hello... I have a 1992 5.0 OMC I/O that was running fine for me at WOT. Went to half throttle for a bit and suddenly sounded a bit muffled and stalled. Now it will not pass slow trolling speed. Mechanic mentioned Interrupter Switch, Question is is this pretty common and what steps should I start with for troubleshooting. Thanks in advance.

 

[mlslocks]

Re: Interrupter Switch

I would say not the switch. I'm pretty sure it would not run at all if there were a switch problem.

 

[Cisco1]

Re: Interrupter Switch

I could be referring to the wrong thing, I thought this is what only allowed the engine to idle low for shifting gears...

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Interrupter Switch

Cisco...you are talking about the ESA module. On OMC's the interupt switch activates the module which grounds out the coil with pulses so it causes the engine to stumble or drop in RPM's to make it easier to shift out of gear, Mercs only use a switch which if it sticks can cause the engine to stall. Find the ESA module which is usually mounted near the shift cable bracket, it has 2 cables coming out of it, one has a purple and grey wire (purple is power, grey goes to coil) you can unplug this to bypass the ESA for testing purposes, if this fixes your problem then you need to find out whats wrong with the ESA, if it doesn't fix it then you'll need to look elsewhere.

 

[Cisco1]

Re: Interrupter Switch

Thank you Boatin Bob I will check!

 

[Cisco1]

Re: Interrupter Switch

That piece seems to be working fine. I can switch gears and even used my fingers to manually try it. Boat is inconsistent when it is doing it Today seems to be an intermitten problem. Just bought it so dont' know about gas, I will start with that next. any other suggestions?<br />BTW... Really appreciate the help

 

[Cisco1]

Re: Interrupter Switch

Maybe I jumped the gun on this. I was able to manual trip this switch. This seams like a part that either works or doesn't. Does it degrade, again I tried to take it out yesterday and again it was running fine 5 - 10 minutes. Changed out all the gas. I haven't disconnected the Interrupter switch because it appeared to be working fine when we left. Bottom line is this something that can work at times and not at others?

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Interrupter Switch

The ESA module has 2 different versions, original ones came with 2 switches, the interupt and the overstroke, the overstroke switch prevented the ESA from activating when in gear, the newer ESA's don't use the overstroke but have an internal timer so that if the interupt switch fails to reset the ESA, the internal timer kicks it off in about 6-7 secs. Maybe next time you are out and it acts up I would just disconnect the 2 wire plug on the ESA and bypass it, at this point not sure if you have an electrical or fuel type problem. Does it have electronic ignition or points? Any idea when the last tune up was?