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Ignition trouble...


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Hey all, Im hoping someone out there has an easy solution for me. I have a 1985 Malibu I just bought. I had it out on the lake a few weeks ago and everything was fine. We stoppped the boat and floated for a bit to throw back some beers. When I went to start the motor, it didnt turn over. The radio powered fine and my gauge read battery power. We ended up having to by-pass the turn-key ignition with a screwdriver on the relay mounted to the motor. Motor turned over fine and started right up. We ran it for a bit and shut it down. Then turned it over again and she started right up with the key. Could it be a wiring problem or has anyone heard of this ever happening? Is it a common problem with a common fix? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanx fellow boaters!

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You could start by check the Ignition to see if it's closing the circuit if you have a continuity or electrical multimeter. Then all connections after that.

An ignition is about $20 from a marine supplier.

post-149-1257271912_thumb.jpg

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I agree with bigD. Get a couple of jumpers and jump around the switch on the terminals on the back of the switch. If it starts and runs, it's the switch.

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Did you jump the ignition swith shown in the pic above or did you jump the starter solenoid? A common issue with our inboards is the neutral safety switch. If it's bad (or if your throttle lever is not positioned correctly) you will see this problem. Bypassing the ignition switch will not crank the engine if NSS is bad but bypassing the starter solenoid will.

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