1994 sea rayder Jet boat no start

[Kevin Lenahan]

Hi, so I have a 1994 sea rayder with a Mercury sport jet 90 in it, I had it running for a short period of time last summer, but when I tried to start it in April there was no spark, and now there is no crank. I checked timing (This was the issue last time) and replaced the starter solenoid but to no avail. I can get it to crank if I jump the solenoid, but still no spark. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[RedBarron55]

Check the idle start switch in the throttle.
It should just allow starting in the idle detent.
Also check the safety lanyard switch for spark.

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

I already replaced the safety lanyard switch 2 times (It was the cause of no spark another time), but where would the idle start switch be? I know I've checked the neutral start switch but I havent heard of the idle start switch

 

[RedBarron55]

Perhaps I misspoke, but the switch works at idle or neutral.
Many have jumpered it out so that the throttle can be advanced.
You do have the little silver know that should disconnect the shift from the throttle so that you can increase the idle speed and keep the gate in neutral.

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

Ok, what I had to replace the entire shifter mechanism with a new old stock one from another boat that I made work because everything in the original one froze up, would it be some where else? I did have the neutral safety switch jumped prior to switching out the shifters

 

[RedBarron55]

The neutral safety switch is in the yellow/red wire from the key switch back to the engine solenoid. These wires could be tied together and then the key switch will pull in the solenoid. Also check the fuse that provides power to the keys witch
The black /yellow wire is shorted to ground to kill the engine and if there is a short in this wire the ignition won't fire.

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

Ill check that next, I know that the fuse is good, but Ill look to see if the yellow and red wire is grounded out somewhere Thanks!

 

[RedBarron55]

It would not be grounded out. These wires need to carry the 12 volt power from the starter contacts of the key switch to the solenoid.
The switch in the throttle/shift to keep from starting in gear,
If you tie the wires together when you turn the key the solenoid will pull in and the starter turn

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

So I checked and I have no power in the yellow and red wire going to the solenoid, there isnt any power going into the key switch either

 

[RedBarron55]

Check the fuse. Power from the battery to the switch goes through it

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

Ok so I did a lot of rewiring because whoever had this boat before me hacked it all up. I got it to crank by key now, but am still lacking spark. I know that I have power going into the switchbox but am not sure if the trigger isnt firing or what

 

[RedBarron55]

Power does nor go to the switchbox, The ignition is powered off part of the stator windings.
There are two or three wires from the stator for the switchbox depending on if the stator is red or black.
The 12 volt power to the battery charging is from the two yellow wires that go to the rectifier/regulator.
There is a kill circuit that comes from the keyswitch and safety switch.
If the circuits were hacked up then you need to get a manual so that you can trace the circuits.
If you have the red stator (look under the flywheel from the side with the starter) there will be an adapter bar for the power to the switch box.
If it is a black stator no adapter on the top of the switch box, but three wires one ground (maybe) and a high and low speed winding.
To proceed you will most likely have to download a copy of the manual.
I have the file in PDF and could email it to you.

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

I do have a hard copy of the manual with the wiring diagram, and I do have the red stator with the adapter and have been tracing the wires

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

Ok so I tested and had little to no voltage going into the coils, the only wires that run to the coils are ground, and 3 wires that run into the switchbox. I have plenty of power coming out of both the stator and the trigger

 

[RedBarron55]

There are four wires from the trigger coils a common and a coil for each cylinder. If spinning over (plugs out perhaps) they should show about 4 volts (pulsing of course) from the output to the common.
Each coil should measure about 1400 ohms to common so use that as a guide to find the common wire.
You can use a timing light to check if the coils are firing (plugs in and connected) by clamping on the plug wires in turn.
You can also make sure that the timing is not off and not starting for that reason.
After I got my boat running I had a hard time starting later only to find that the kill switch was off!
What I finally did when I found a bad trigger coil I replaced the switch box by installing Mercury CDM modules in place of the coils and a wiring harness from a Mercury 3 cylinder motor.
Lost a lot of connections and problem areas.
The red stator will work with the CDMs and the stock trigger coils as long as the flywheel is for the old series engine and not the newer CDMs as the magnetic setup for flywheel and trigger is different using Hall effect instead of coils.
You might want to try starting without the rectifier/regulator hooked up as a failure of that part can keep it from starting.
Failure of the rectifier can kill the switchbox so this could be an issue.
The stator to the adapter should put out as much as 180 volts and you could check this with the adapter disconnected (maybe).
The adapter gives the proper voltages to the switchbox to mimic the output of the old style stator.
The CDI switchbox generates the high voltage that goes to the coils and it could be bad. If you get another one be sure the rectifier/regulator is good as a bad regulator will kill the box, usually a new box will start the engine one time and then when the engine is switched off the inductive kickback will spike and kill it again.
I installed a motorcycle rectifier/regulator to take care of the problem and to keep from overcharging the maintenance free battery that was installed.

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

I will try this tomorrow, when you are reading it are you cranking the engine or just key on? I noticed that I had about 220 volts coming out of the stator, but only when cranking. When the key is in the on position I get nothing. Also the 3 wires for the coils that I was talking about just run from the switchbox to each of the 3 coils, then they just have a ground wire. I was only getting about .2 volts out of the switchbox

 

[RedBarron55]

You would only get voltage when the motor is turning over. by key on I assume that you mean that the switch is on but the engine is not turning and that would be normal.
I don't know if the voltage or more properly the current to the coils would be picked up by a meter since the output is very fast with a high rise time to fire the plugs. The manual says 400 volts, however and this might be the peak measured with the special meter.
The kill wire could stop the output as well.
The black/yellow is grounded when the kill switch shorts it to ground.
If unshorted I think there is a bias voltage on the wire.
The kill switch goes to the ignition switch, the kill switch and the rev limiter.
You could try unplugging the black yellow going to the switchbox and if this helps then unplug the revlimiter , switch etc to find the short.

 

[RedBarron55]

There is also a good source of information and help here:
https://forums.iboats.com/forum/engine-repair-and-maintenance/force-chrysler-outboards

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

I tried disconnecting the black and yellow wire, and still no spark. I had about 180 volts coming out if the stator, but nothing at the coils. It just seems as if no power is leaving the switchbox. I only had power running in the blue wire from the adapter, but the red wire from the original stator isn't connected to anything. I also didn't have any power from anything else going either in or our of the switchbox

 

[Kevin Lenahan]

After the adapter through the blue wire I'm getting about 240v, and around 100 in the black and yellow wire coming out of the switchbox