mercury outboard will not fire

[wakruem]

Hello,<br /><br />Please help me. I have no idea where to<br />go with this. I have a 1973 Mercury outboard 40HP<br />(Model 400 / SN: 3407409) that won't start. It has the Thunderbolt ignition. The original mercury controls (key switch) broke, so I put in a after market key switch made for boats. The motor cranks, but it's not getting any fire. I checked the spark plugs (plugs are new) and there is no fire. What do I need to check for? Could someone please provide me with assistance. I would really like to get this running, so I can enjoy the rest of the summer on the water.<br /><br />Thank you very much,<br /><br />Wayne

 

[RICKRICK1]

Re: mercury outboard will not fire

Did it start before you changed the key switch? If so I would replace and or recheck my connections for proper operation at the switch. Have seen where when installing a new switch did not get the proper wire on on proper terminal as new switch was wired different (internally) than old switch and was grounding out ignition. Have you checked to see if your automatic cutoff swich/lanyard is activated.