Outboard Engine: Safety Lanyard Switch Installation

[adaco]

I am installing a Yamaha safety lanyard switch in a console for use with my Yamaha Enduro 60 two-stroke-power-cycle outboard engine. To what circuits do I connect the black and white leads?

[jimh]

Sorry, I cannot offer any advice based solely on wire insulation color. I recommend you follow the directions that came with the OEM Yamaha Safety Lanyard Switch installation kit. Usually an outboard engine safety lanyard switch is connected to a dedicated circuit in the electrical system of the outboard engine designed for such a switch. Consult the electrical schematic diagram for your outboard engine for guidance.

[Oldslowandugly]

I agree with Jim, you must consult the manual wiring diagram. However, Yamaha pretty much shamelessly copied Johnson/Evinrude designs, right down to the wiring color codes. On these, the kill switch is used to ground the magneto, thus stopping voltage from reaching the ignition circuit. On OMC motors the color wire is black with a yellow stripe. If you look at the wiring harness that goes to your remote control, you will find a few wires that go to the key switch. There should be two wires hooked to the "M" terminals. One is the magneto, the other is ground. In the "OFF" position, the magneto gets grounded, shutting down the motor. No matter what the wire color used is, find the magneto wire and that is what you connect to the kill switch along with a ground.

[jimh]

If you want to see a wiring diagram for an engine that is not part of this discussion, you can see the older Evinrude and Johnson wiring in my article at

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

If you want to compare the wire insulation color codes used by various outboard engine manufacturers, you can see the listing of them I have compiled at

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

Again, I caution that you should not make any inference about how to install an electrical switch for a safety lanyard on your particular outboard engine by looking at how a different manufacturer provided for that function or by looking at a listing of wire insulation color codes. Deduction of circuit function only by reference to wire insulation color can lead to bad assumptions.

[Oldslowandugly]

Jim, thanks for those charts. OMC and Mercury use the black/yellow stripe for ignition stop while Yamaha uses white. That should solve the OP's problem. As always, read the book!