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Mercury 650 coil

R

rwirtzfeld

New member
I have been rebuilding the carbs on my 1969 Mercury 650 4 cylinder. I removed the switch box to get to the carbs. for removal. So I removed the two wires coming from the coil to the switch box. Problem is I didn't mark the wires and they are both black, and on my wiring diagram in my manual they show them as both black. One lands on a green terminal on the switchbox and the other is a ground but I don't how to tell the difference? If you know which is which could you let me know, the wires on the coil; one wire is more towards the center while the other is near the outside diameter. I have the type III Thunderbolt ignition.

Thanks, Randy

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They're black due to aging. You're gonna have to skin back the rubber sheave (if any) over the wires at the other end and (hopefully) determine the colors. If there's tape of skrink-wrapped on the connectors (where they are crimped to the wires), you might try carefully removing it with a sharp knife and see if you can spot the colors.

Jeff
 
I don't think that is the case. My wiring diagram shows them both as being black also. I have no idea why they would do this, 2 different colors would be nice.

Thanks, Randy
 
If that's the case, one would supect it doesn't matter which wire goes where, like an AC circuit. This is certainly true with the yellow charging wires coming from the stator.

Jeff
 
Just to make sure I wasn't missing something, I cut the sheath back on both wires near the terminals. Bare wire underneath, so the black was the wire jacket, not a shrink wrap or such.

I hate to take a chance on a guess, since the parts for these old outboards are pretty high. I would rather buy parts for my 2002 than this old 1969.

Thanks again, Randy
 
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