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Need help matching up wiring harnesses

S

ShayneCastonguay

Contributing Member
I have a 1982 johnson 50 hp outboard. I removed it from the back of the boat last year, and wrote down how everything was wired up, but left my list outside and it was destroyed. This is what I'm looking at
from the boat connector:
purple w/ white stripe
purple
black w/yellow stripe
black
tan
red w/blue stripe
gray
yellow w/ red stripe
and a white and black wire that are run outside of the harness

from the motor:
Green
brown
brown
black (thicker)
yellow w/green stripe
yellow w/ black stripe
pink

help would be appreciated
 
I suspect that you mean the majority of these wires were connected to the ignition switch. If so......

Purple w/ white stripe = To the "C" terminal of the ignition switch. (Choke/Primer solenoid)
Purple = to the "A" terminal of the ignition switch. (Accessories)
Black w/yellow stripe = To the raised "M" terminal of the ignition switch. (kill circuit if p/pack)
Black = To the regular "M" terminal of the ignition switch. (Kill circuit ground)
Red w/blue stripe = Should be battery voltage, if so = To the "B" terminal of the ignition switch. (Bat voltage)
Yellow w/ red stripe = To "S" terminal of ignition switch. (starter solenoid)

Tan = To warning horn terminal closest to the horn ground wire.
Gray = To tachometer "S" terminal or to tachometer gray wire.
White and black wire that are run outside of the harness -- Trace this back to the engine. I suspect it is connected to the PTT sensor connected to the port transom bracket. If so, that wire attached to the PTT gauge.

I don't know what you mean by "From Engine".

 
I mean theres a bunch of wires taped together coming from the motor, that connect to the ones that are connected to the ignition switch. The ignition switch is properly hooked up. I just need to know how those wires connect to the bunch that are sticking out of the motor itself.
 
Correct. The boat is a 1967, but the motor is a 1982. The controls are made by OMC and the motor is a johnson. It all came as one package so I never had to deal with it.
 
are the wires coming from the motor going to a plug under the cowl?i am trying to understand where the break in the cable occurred and how did it occur?was the control cable cut?was the motor on this boat and used with these controls before or are you trying to match up different ones?......
 
The motor came with the boat. The break is on the motor itself. Coming out from the motor, all of the wires are present, taped together, and connectors are on each individual wire. Similar connectors are on the wires that come from the ignition switch so all of the wires are connected at the motor
 
ok..still dont understand what you have there...is this correct?you have a bunch of wires coming from the ignition switch..the switch is wired to these wires but the other end of the wires are not connected?and on the motor end the same thing..a bunch of wires hooked up to the motor but the other end which you have taped are not connected?and you want to match the wires and they do not follow the omc color code?

do any of the wires that are wired to either the motor or the console switch follow the code?

without a color code you are going to have to either physically trace each wire or use a multimeter on rx1 ohms scale to match them up...a place to start is with joe reeves entry as it tells you where both ends go..a word of caution...the kill wire going to the power pack if you have one should never have any voltage applied to it..kiss the power pack goodbye if this happens..
 
in rereading the problem i notice the boat is 15 years older then the motor..in fact the controls are damn near 50 years old...so having to reinvent the wheel and meter each lead out for its destination is not surprising...some one had to do the same thing in the past...when they put a newer motor on it...
 
Be very very careful as some of the early motors used 12v to the turn on/off the ignition and yours grounds the ignition to stop engine. A miss wire will cause internal damage to pack!!!!! You would be better off finding a late model box IMO
 
Alright, so I managed to get the starting solenoid, main power, and push-to-choke wires hooked up. What I'm not sure on is the power pack grounding circuit. I see a black wire with a yellow stripe leading to the controls, to which I hooked up a brown wire leaving the power pack (neither of the ignition coil lines), but my question is: under what circumstances is the power pack grounded? Is it when the safety leash is pulled from the controls or when the engine overheats?
 
Ok so I hooked up the brown wire from the PP properly to the black and yellow wire. My question is, WHEN is the killswitch activated? When the safety keys are removed from the controls? Also, where does the other end of the horn wire go? That is, the end that goes into a connector with the tach. None of these connectors are still on the boat
 
the kill switch wire is grounded when the kill switch lanyard is pulled..you may not even have one on that old control..turning the key off grounds the wire to the power pack when you turn it off...the kill switch does the same thing but is a different switch... the horn wire goes to the horn..you may not have that either...

both are critical...the kill switch as a safety device and the horn for engine over heating etc...

if it was me i would shop around for a newer control assy....
 
Ok so I finished off everything with the wiring except one thing: the tach. Whoever replaced the motor on the boat did a shoddy job and removed the wires for the guages. I suspect my motor is running a but high on the RPM side, but I can't confirm without the tach feedback. How exactly are these wired up? The gray wire comes from the motor, but where should it head after that? Any advice on rewiring the tach would help.
 
The ignition switch is in the controls. I am yet to put a breaker on the panel, but will do so. Where do I access the pulse wire? I will probably carry a 12v + wire from the panel to a switch on the dash, that feeds to all the dials. That way I can flick the switch after the ignition is on, so the dials will fire up. All I need to know is where to access the pulse wire
 
I will check when I get home. I think I know what connector you're talking about, but the boat doesn't have the female connector for it anywhere on board
 
So I pulled the tach out, and it has only 2 posts. I have hot, ground, and pulse coming from the controls. The tach reads "connect in series with ignition switch so coil current flows through tach." And "guranteed void if connected to distributor or ground". My guess, I need to buy a three post tach to match the controls. Thoughts?
 
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