posted 04-09-2009 05:43 PM ET (US)        

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I will be buying an ignition [key switch that has six wires coming from it] for my current project, 19' 1973 Outrage restoration. I need some help. The motor is a 1986-era Tower-of-power straight-six 115-HP [Mercury outboard]. The wire color codes I currently have:

--yellow with red stripe

--yellow with black stripe

--black with yellow stripe

--black

--red

--white.

Where to attach these?

[Please use REPAIRS/MODS to seek advice on repairs to the motor--jimh]

posted 04-09-2009 08:24 PM ET (US)            

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The color codes typically used by Mercury for their wiring are given in the REFERENCE section article. I would use those codes to make a deduction of what wire is intended for what purpose. Since you have the switch in hand, you can easily deduce how it is wired by making a few continuity checks. Make a map of what wire is connected to what other wire versus switch position. Post that information and we can help you further.

The general wiring of an ignition switch is shown in a REFERENCE article.

Cf.:
Marine Wiring Color Codes
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/wireColorCode.html

Ignition Switch Wiring
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/ignitionSwitch.html

At this point, all I would do is to use the information contained in those articles to make a deduction about your switch. But, since you have the switch, you can easily discover precisely how it is wired, so any deduction I would make based on these assumptions would not be nearly as reliable as the deductions you can make based on your observations of the switch you have.