Outboard wire colours

Reference Articles

We have a collection of reference articles (such as an FAQ) to help support your outboard diagnosis and repair. Most of these articles are referenced in various diagnosis steps where they are relevant, but you can also search these articles directly to find what you need.

Details of the wire colours of the common functions in each brand of outboard motor.

Function	Yamaha	Johnson	Evinrude	Mercury	Honda	Suzuki	Tohatsu
Battery positive	Red	Red/Black	Red/Black	Red	White/Black	White	Red
Battery negative	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black	Black
Temperature light/Gauge Sender	Pink	Tan/Orange	Tan/Orange	Tan	Yellow/Green	Pink	Light blue
Low oil sender	Green/Red	Tan/Black	Tan/Black	Tan/Black	Yellow	N/A	Light green
No oil sender	N/A	Tan/Yellow	Tan/Yellow	N/A	N/A	Black	N/A
Warning buzzer	Grey/Green	Tan	Tan	Tan/Blue	Red	Blue	Yellow
Tachometer	Green/Red	Grey	Grey	Gray	Gray	Yellow	Light green
Choke	Blue	Purple/White	Purple/White	Yellow/Black	Brown	N/A	Blue
Start	Brown	Yellow/Red	Yellow/Red	Yellow/Red	Black/White	Brown	Green
Lanyard / Kill Switch	White	Black/Yellow	Black/Yellow	Black/Yellow	Black/Red	Green	Brown
Neutral safety switch	N/A	Yellow/Red	Yellow/Red	Yellow/Red	N/A	Brown	Green
Trim sender	Pink/Black	White/Tan	White/Tan	Brown/White	Yellow/Blue	White/Yellow	Pink & Light green
Key/Ingition on	Yellow	Purple	Purple	Purple	Black/Yellow	Gray	Red
Trim up	Light blue	Blue/White	Blue/White	Light blue/white	Green	Light blue	Green
Trim down	Light green	Green/White	Green/White	Light green/White	Blue	Pink	Blue
Check engine light	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Gray	N/A