No Spark, any ideas?

[Farley]

Pulled and pulled and pulled yesterday on a motor that has not been used for a few years. 18 hp merc made in '87 or so. HAd some coil work done a few years back after some mice got into it over the winter. It was fixed, I used it for that season but has sat ever since.

I tried starting fluid in the carb, wouldnt even sputter, so I pulled the plugs and checked for spark and there was none that I could tell. Tried new plugs, still no spark. Spark plug wires seem good and clean. Is it possible to somehow check coils with an ohmmeter to tell if they are bad? Also where would be a good place to pick up a new set of coils if they are bad? Any other ideas of what it could be?

[boatfixer]

I doubt very much you have 2 bad coils. My gut tells me switch box.

Some other things that can cause NO spark are key switch or kill switch, stator or trigger, and of course all check connections for corrosion.

[Farley]

Thanks boatfixer, you were right. I ended up disconnecting the yellow and black wire and it fired up. So that tells me it's in the kill switch. I popped off the orange button on the end of the control arm and it was very dirty and corroded inside there. I stuck my leatherman in there and pulled the metal piece back out a little and then re connected the yellow and black wires and it fired up. So the problem was the kill switch sticking in the on position. So I'm going to try and spray some WD in there to try and clean it out a little, but if that doesnt work, do any of you know how to take apart the control arm so I can get in there? Does the throttle handle just come off some how or do I have to take apart the whole thing, throttle linkage and all?

[boatfixer]

That shifts in the handle, right? I think there is a retainer that has to come off then carefully and slowly take the twist apart. Once you're into it you'll see what I mean. But no, you dont have to take the whole handle off. It's been a little while since I last did one but I'm sure it's not to tough.