[Willow Wog]

Well we went to walters camp this weekend, pulled the boat out of storage and she fired right up didn't have to charge the batterys or nothing. We went straight to the ramp and put her in. well we made it about 100 yards into the channel and she just stopped running. I was able to determine that we lost spark and then found there was power going into the Ignitor? coil? whatever its called on an outboard. and that looks like it draws power out of either the cdi? brain? Anyone have any ideas. did we burn up the cdi or brain thingy? Im gunna try and find a picture of the part im talking about.

Once again this is a 76' merc 115..

[Willow Wog]

So it looks like the part is called switch box assembly. anyone ever had this go bad? or better yet have one laying around? $452.00 is alot of coin to not have it be the problem.. gt you out there?

[GT Jets]

Well...Since you put me on the spot on the rocker thread 

J/K...So check this out, the way these freaks of mechanical wonders work is.....

As the flywheel spins, there is a charge coil magneto that makes voltage for the CD box to build up and store...The typical voltage to the box is about 30 volts while cranking......Once at the CD, it is stored long enough to make about 300 volts, then it is switched to the ignition coil which produces over 40,000 volts....Viola! a spark...

Now here is the problem...It takes a special tool to detect the voltages at each point. I have one, most shops will do the troubleshooting for an hour of labor, this changes if it is intermittent, those are a bitch 

Now with all that being out of the way....A lot of the time, if you check spark and all of the cylinders have a very faint almost non existent spark that spreads about 1/32" (has to be fairly dark to see) the magic box is toast...

If there is no spark at all, either the ignition switch is shorted, or the charge coil is dead...

If only one (or two) cylinders is dead, it is the coil on that cylinder..

Disclaimer;  This is very non technical and non proven, but may get you in the park...

If you are unsure of the diagnosis, have a shop take a look see, the box is electrical and non returnable if it no fixie...

FWIW, they do take a dump....Make sure and disconnect the ignition switch "M" wire to ensure it is not something silly, your motor may be too old for a kill switch, but look there too....These shut off by grounding the mag coil from making power at the box, always a good place to start..

I can loan you my mag box if needed....Lemmeknow.

GT

[propless]

So it looks like the part is called switch box assembly. anyone ever had this go bad? or better yet have one laying around? $452.00 is alot of coin to not have it be the problem.. gt you out there?

 Post up a pic of your switch box (and part# if possible).  I have some extra stuff around here somewhere from when I was trying to get one running. 

 This might help too.
http://www.socaljetboats.com/outboards/mercury-troubleshooting/

[Luckie Stiff]

what the hell are you doing with an outboard? Were you wacking the weeds in the launch ramp area?

[CHROMEY]

Were you wacking the weeds in the launch ramp area?

AWESOME!...can i make a request?

when u get it running, drive on down to "park moabi" and buzz round the launch ramp area there....
every time i launch from there, my grate always gets blocked up , and i have to pull over and swim under to remove all the crap i sucked up from the no wake area..thanks again!

[Willow Wog]

what the hell are you doing with an outboard? Were you wacking the weeds in the launch ramp area?

Haha thats funny because I actually follow him out when the hydrilla is super bad hoping it will clear the grass out for me.  Its actually my buddys boat, as long as we get it together it will be on the macintyre trip.

[Willow Wog]

Well...Since you put me on the spot on the rocker thread 

J/K...So check this out, the way these freaks of mechanical wonders work is.....

As the flywheel spins, there is a charge coil magneto that makes voltage for the CD box to build up and store...The typical voltage to the box is about 30 volts while cranking......Once at the CD, it is stored long enough to make about 300 volts, then it is switched to the ignition coil which produces over 40,000 volts....Viola! a spark...

Now here is the problem...It takes a special tool to detect the voltages at each point. I have one, most shops will do the troubleshooting for an hour of labor, this changes if it is intermittent, those are a bitch 

Now with all that being out of the way....A lot of the time, if you check spark and all of the cylinders have a very faint almost non existent spark that spreads about 1/32" (has to be fairly dark to see) the magic box is toast...

If there is no spark at all, either the ignition switch is shorted, or the charge coil is dead...

If only one (or two) cylinders is dead, it is the coil on that cylinder..

Disclaimer;  This is very non technical and non proven, but may get you in the park...

If you are unsure of the diagnosis, have a shop take a look see, the box is electrical and non returnable if it no fixie...

FWIW, they do take a dump....Make sure and disconnect the ignition switch "M" wire to ensure it is not something silly, your motor may be too old for a kill switch, but look there too....These shut off by grounding the mag coil from making power at the box, always a good place to start..

I can loan you my mag box if needed....Lemmeknow.

GT

Well once I figured there was no power going to the igniter I tryed running a jumper straight to the igniter and it shorted the wire as if it was a ground instead of being a hot... so maybe it is a ignition switch problem.... and there is no kill switch

[Willow Wog]

AWESOME!...can i make a request?

when u get it running, drive on down to "park moabi" and buzz round the launch ramp area there....
every time i launch from there, my grate always gets blocked up , and i have to pull over and swim under to remove all the crap i sucked up from the no wake area..thanks again!

If it didn't live so far south I would definately give it a shot for ya