Trojan-man

on wiring my boat I ran into a few things I couldn't figure out. Maybe you guys can help me with this. My ignition has 3 wires that come off it. A red, a yellow with red stripe, and a purple. The red is a power wire. Do I need to plug that into the acc. panel to power my ignition switch? The kill switch has 2 wires, a purple that connects to the the purple on the ignition key switch and a black with white stripe. Do I hook up the black with white stripe to the purple on my harness that runs to my engine so it makes a complete circuit?

Also the diagram I was following has the purple wire running through the harness to the engine harness, then to the alternator. Shouldn' this wire be hooked to the ignition box so if the kill switch is pulled it will kill the ignition? I have an MSD box, MSD distributor, and a blaster 2 coil just for a reference.

I wired up my gauges and my brother basically wired a new engine harness last night, but we are not wiring gurus, so I wanted to check in with some expert opinions. thanks

scarrab30

If you have a white wire out of the MSD box you can run that to a kill switch. If you have a two post switch, the wire (white) from the MSD to one post and a wire from the other post to ground. Brian

Ghostrider

Maybe this will help:
From MSD instructions-
Power Cables: The heavy red connects to the battery positive (+) terminal. The heavy
Black connects to the battery negative (-) terminal or other good
engine ground.
Red: Connects to a switched 12 volts source.
Orange: Connects to the positive (+) terminal of the coil. This is the only wire
that makes electrical contact with the coil positive terminal.
Black: Connects to the negative (-) terminal of the coil. This the only wire
that makes electrical contact with the coil negative terminal.
White: This is one of the wires that provides a trigger signal for the MSD. It
connects to the breaker points, electronic ignition amplifier output or
to the Yellow wire of an MSD timing accessory. When this wire is
used, the Magnetic connector is not (Violet and Green wires).
Violet and Green: These wires are routed together in one harness to form the magnetic
pickup connector. They plug directly into an MSD Distributor or Crank
Trigger. The Violet wire is positive (+) and the Green wire is negative
(-). When they are used, the White wire is not.

Good luck mate, just let me know if you need the MSD instructions, I have them electronic and can email them to you if you like?

John.

Trojan-man

so the purple wire in the gauge harness that connects the ignition switch, and kill switch will hook up the red switched power wire from the box? this is what I need to know, thank you

wstultz

So you're telling me that we need to hook up the purple wire from the kill switch to the small red wire coming out of the MSD plug?

Trojan-man

I think that what the man's telling you jr.

offthefront

If your kill switch is normally closed (has continuity when the lanyard is attached)
Take the purple wire from the ignition switch and run to one side of the kill switch and then the other side of the kill switch going to the purple wire to the motor ...

If you kill switch is "Open" with the Lanyard attached....
run one side of the Kill Switch to Ground and the other to the White Wire on the MSD Box ......m

Trojan-man

thanks for the info. I don't know how to tell if it is open or closed, but it is a standard mercruiser kill switch. The toggle has a cover on it, and when the lanyard is attached, the toggle is in the up position, when it is pulled, the toggle goes to the down position. I just want to make sure I hooked it up right. I connected the purple to the ignition purple, and I connected the black with white stripe to the purple on the wiring harness that goes to the engine which then I connected the red wire to the msd box. I just want someone to tell me yay or nay

thanks, chad

offthefront

Chad .... hook it up like you stated ..start the motor with the switch up ...If it runs ...and you flip the switch down and the motor stops ....your good to go .....

If you try the start the motor and it wont run ...flip the switch down and the motor runs ... but wont run with the switch up ....Then you will need to use the switch as a grounding switch ..hook the B/W to Ground and the purple on the Switch will go to the white on the MSD box .......m