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Problem solved! I managed to find a new boatside red plug harness. I pulled out the old one, rewired the new one, and everything works fine. The problem was the wiring in the boatside harness, not the kill switch or the ignition switch.
I found a weak area in the old harness that runs through the hull and did some investigating. After cutting away the insulation, it appears that water (oily bilge water) managed to get into the insulation jacket and has weakened the insulation of the wiring. The insulation on the ground (Blk) wire, was completely worn away and the copper wire seriously corroded. The kill (Blk/Yel) wire appeared to be intact. My guess would be that the ignition system was not receiving a sufficient ground from the Blk wire to complete a circuit on startup and/or was shorting over to the Blk/Yel kill wire.
For anyone reading this thread searching for solutions I would recommend two things.
1. Do not use an audible continuity tester alone to test wiring. Use a combination of audible, digital, and analog testers to verify readings. Reason- I was not receiving continuity tone on a wire that did have a partial short to ground. Using an analog ohmmeter allowed me to see that the wire was partially shorted to ground, and the digital allowed me to have an exact reading.
2. Old wiring should not be trusted! While the outer jacket may appear to be intact, weak areas may not prevent water, oil, and fuel from getting into it. Good looking insulation does not mean that the wire inside is in good condition. Old harnesses are made of copper wire that corrodes easily. The wiring in this harness does not appear to be tinned like most marine wiring that in use today and had serious corrosion in the middle of the harness even though the ends looked in good condition.
I found a weak area in the old harness that runs through the hull and did some investigating. After cutting away the insulation, it appears that water (oily bilge water) managed to get into the insulation jacket and has weakened the insulation of the wiring. The insulation on the ground (Blk) wire, was completely worn away and the copper wire seriously corroded. The kill (Blk/Yel) wire appeared to be intact. My guess would be that the ignition system was not receiving a sufficient ground from the Blk wire to complete a circuit on startup and/or was shorting over to the Blk/Yel kill wire.
For anyone reading this thread searching for solutions I would recommend two things.
1. Do not use an audible continuity tester alone to test wiring. Use a combination of audible, digital, and analog testers to verify readings. Reason- I was not receiving continuity tone on a wire that did have a partial short to ground. Using an analog ohmmeter allowed me to see that the wire was partially shorted to ground, and the digital allowed me to have an exact reading.
2. Old wiring should not be trusted! While the outer jacket may appear to be intact, weak areas may not prevent water, oil, and fuel from getting into it. Good looking insulation does not mean that the wire inside is in good condition. Old harnesses are made of copper wire that corrodes easily. The wiring in this harness does not appear to be tinned like most marine wiring that in use today and had serious corrosion in the middle of the harness even though the ends looked in good condition.
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