Johnson 88 hp SPL Wiring Issues

Hello,

I am stumped... I bought a piece of property and there was a 16ft Glastron with a Johnson 88 SPL on it. There was no key to the boat so I purchased a new ignition switch. Upon wiring I noticed nearly all of the wires to the switch were hot, even the ground. Obviously it didn't work. I then pulled the engine cowling, traced wires, and found the positive lead off the battery terminates at the engine block, while the negative lead terminates at the starter solenoid. I cannot find any resources to indicate a reverse polarity setup for this engine and all of the wiring appears to be stock, even the battery terminal end for negative is clearly labeled as "Attach to negative lead only." Last night I reversed the battery leads and nothing... I am able to spin the engine by hooking the battery directly to the solenoid and ground to the block, but I'd like to figure this out so I can use the boat! Thoughts? What am I missing here?

Thanks!

That motor is supposed to be negative ground. Neg battery term to engine block. I have no idea what else is wrong, except reverse polarity has destroyed the alternator regulator. You need a correct wiring diagram and go from there.

Thanks for your help. I looked at quite a few wiring diagrams and I agree with you--Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a weird one-off reversed polarity setup. I'll make the changes and go from there. Thanks again.

What did you ever find out ??

I just may retire from doing any maintenance... I swapped the terminals on the engine and battery and it was appropriate, but no power to the switch. I checked fuses and such in the terminal box and no power. Then I thought, "I wonder if there is another lead to the battery for the terminal box and thus the switch?" I poked around in the gunnel and found another lead... Here's the deal.

There are TWO ground wires for this boat, one for the engine and one for the rest. Once it was hooked-up appropriately, THE KEY WORKS! I have rewired several boats with IB/OB and this was the most confusing. I haven't actually started the engine as I think the power pack is probably fried with all of the mistakes, but planning on doing some work on it this week.

Word to the wise... Just because a wire isn't labeled and is dark doesn't mean it MAY or MAY NOT be a positive or negative. Too many nights on this project.