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As luck would have it, I recently sold my 17' (1966 hull) and now my 175hp won't turn over. I ran it twice 3 weeks ago on muffs for about 1/2 an hour each time. Live in Mass. and haven't winterized yet because I will be duck hunting until the end of January. Battery is fine. It just makes a "click" sound when the ignition key is turned. (Choke, probably )

I am guessing (hoping) that it has something to do with the neutral controls. The fly wheel moves, BTW. Anyone have any idea why it turned over a few weeks ago but won't now?

This is a 1978 Johnson, 175hp. Has run great all summer after replacing rectifier.

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The problem reads to be electrical.

Test battery for charge.
Disconnect/reconnect battery cables.
Test kill switch
Throttle in neutral

What did you do differently 3 weeks ago?

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I agree with Phil about it being an electrical issue. I would go a step further and say if after doing everything Phil says if it still doesn't fire up, I would try to start the engine with the cowling off as a friend lightly taps on the starter to see if it has gone bad or developed a, "dead" spot. Sometimes you can get lucky and get the starter to work as most of them die an intermittent death and can be coaxed into working at least a couple more times. If that works than you know it needs a starter.

Jim G.

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Thank you for your responses.

Update: The afternoon I posted the initial question, the boat started right up after sitting on a trickle charge for a few hours. ( As much as an almost 30 year old 2-stroke can start right up )

It started again with no problem the very next day.
Yesterday morning, the same issue. Click.....nothing. Pete and repeat with the trickle charger. Came back a few hours later and YES, she was turning over. I had not had the clams (water) on yet so I turned the key to off. It was STILL trying to turn over !! Pulled the kill-devils prong in this case-switch and it was STILL trying to start. (bulb not primed, so wasn't starting, thankfully ) After I turned the battery off , it finally stopped.

Today, because there is NOTHING better to do on a snowy, pre Christmas day, I tried to diagnose the problem. BlackNyellow kill switch wire to powerpacks seemed ok . Connections, that I was able to see and was aware of...ok. Removed the ignition/key switch and kill switch. Wires ok. (did not multimeter it thought)
Even disconnected the main harness wire, turned the battery back on and it was STILL trying to start. No key in the ignition. No red devils prong in the kill switch.

Guess duck hunting next week is out of the question at this point........but if anyone has a remedy, please help.

If not, have a great Holiday season.

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It sounds like either your key switch is sticking or your solenoid is sticking open.Check the start wire to your solenoid with a volt meter.It is the small yellow with red stripe wire that goes to one of to small nuts on the solenoid. If it shows voltage after your key is off it is your key switch, if it still tries to turn over but no voltage to the yellow red wire then the problem is with the solenoid.

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OK.......thank you, that seems to make sense because of the click I heard. Does it matter if the battery is hooked up or not ( assuming yes, to read voltage. )

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Yes you need the batt hooked up.

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OK, but does the battery need to be in the on position? Or just hooked up? (the negative cable is not on now )
Because this will make the starter engage.

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You need to have the battery completely hooked up. If your started engages remove the red cable that goes from the starter motor to the solenoid. Make sure to insulate the end of cable first before reconnecting the battery.

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Yes the battery needs to be in the on position.

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You could also remove the yellow/red wire from the solenoid, then hook up the battery. If the starter engages the problem is in the solenoid because the yellow red wire is what activates the solenoid when you turn on the switch to the start position and then deactives in the run position.

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Since it's the holiday season, I decided to buy both the solenoid and a new key switch.

One problem has gone away: when the battery is turned on, the engine is no longer turning over.

However, when trying to actually start using the new key switch......NOTHING.

Taking advantage of the warmth, but daylight is fading, so back at it tomorrow.

Kill switch bad??????????????????

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All is well. After re-doing some of the ignition wire terminals (especially the black N yellow), the engine is starting and stopping just fine now. Thank you to classicobr and "Toms Moblie Marine" for phone support. (in Rockport, Mass )