Outboard turns over without turning key

Princecraft175

Princecraft175

Active Member
I have a 60hp mercury outboard. 2 years ago i moved the batteries from the stern to under the centre console and added a marine battery switch. Due to the longer distance I needed both batteries to start the motor.

Just replaced the battery cables from 4 gauge to 2 gauge. Now i turn the battery switch from off to either battery and the outboard starts to turn over with the key in off position

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
check connections at ignition switch again, must be by-passing the actual key on/off function some how, or ignition sw didn't like the improved voltage from cable swap and shorted over power break gap? Could always try a new key assembly/sw, quite a cheap fix, but get a good one, tractor ignition parts work well in a boat, take the pounding and moister. Kubota dealer could fix ya. Temp wire it up before perm install, and try it, just to make sure.
 
second thought,
first step for me would be test ignition sw?? Use a volt meter or mech's test light, connect both sd's of key sw, test on/off function and should show power break on/off?
good luck
 
The wires that comes from the ignition switch that all come to the same 12 plug connector. Not sure which wires to test. Also, someone from this forum helped me in the fall to determine it was a voltage drop due to the length. He hooked up the battery directly to the outboard with 12" cables and it turned over like it should. Could the solenoid for the starter have been locked open by that and need replacing?
 
Thanks for the input from all, I found the issue. When i attached the positive to the solenoid, somehow the wire on the opposite side of the solenoid turned so that it was touching the positive cable and bypassing the solenoid. Now after upgrading from 4 gauge to 2 gauge the motor is still laggish in turnng over. Going to switch the other solenoid cable to a 4 gauge cable see if that helps.
 
It is worth the time to solder the ends of the cables, rather than a crimped joint.
 
I had a sluggish turnover on my outboard ...turns out it was some of the connections were not tight...or rusty....try redoing and cleaning the connections...
 
I once had sluggish turnover and cleaning up all the connections didn't help. turned out to be extreme corrosion right in the middle of one of the cables. I'm not sure how that happened but just a heads-up that it can occur.
 
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