2012 Yamaha F60 won't shut off with key

[smf]

Bizarre symptoms...

Unbolted the remote control to paint the boat recently. Wiring all remained connected. First time out post-paint job, the motor intermittently would not shut off with the key or kill switch. Over a few hours, I noticed that the tach and hour meter (the only gauges on the boat) would not work intermittently and when they weren't working, the key would not shut off the engine. When the tach/hour meter were working, the key shut off worked. The really weird thing is the only way I could get the motor to shut off when the tach/hour meter weren't working was to crank the steering wheel all the way to the right. When I watch the cable going into the motor, it doesn't seem to bend or stretch much at all when the steering is cranked so there doesn't seem to be any obvious stress on the wiring harnesses/etc. Anybody else experience this?

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Welcome to Tin Boats!

It sounds like you have an intermittent ground wire. Since it is effecting multiple items, would start at the switch panel and trace back.

 

[smf]

Appears to have something pinched inside the main wire harness. It had a lot of zip ties pretty tight around it to hold it together with the throttle cables. When I wiggle it around, I get the in/out of the tach/hour meter/kill switch/key shutoff.

 

[Stand Up]

Welcome here @smf Yes, it does sound like the ground wire is loose or barely touching to ground. Look for the ground and follow it to the trouble spot. Check all the connections while you're at it for all the time it takes. Good luck and report back please.

 

[MDCrappie]

You've likely painted over the ground attachment, or the bullet connector for the ground (black wire)has partly become disconnected.

 

[thill]

Sounds like a broken wire in the harness. You may need to run a dedicated ground to the control box. If you have ground in the console, it only needs to go from there. Will work just as well as replacing the entire harness.

Of course, you can try to find where the wire is broken. Do a continuity test from front to back. Hopefully, it's not under the jacketed part of the cable, but is @ the exposed wires on either end.

 

[smf]

Sounds like a broken wire in the harness. You may need to run a dedicated ground to the control box. If you have ground in the console, it only needs to go from there. Will work just as well as replacing the entire harness.

Of course, you can try to find where the wire is broken. Do a continuity test from front to back. Hopefully, it's not under the jacketed part of the cable, but is @ the exposed wires on either end.

Pretty sure it's in the jacketed part based on my wiggle tests and looking at the exposed wires, which look fine. I ordered a new harness. Electrical issues make me tired -- just replacing the harness will help keep me sane.