Need help trying to locate a problem. Rebuilt my 96' mercruiser 454 Efi. Could not get it to spark. Tested coil and is good., have power to it. Went to try and to the key again and while holding key to start I was touching the gear shift lever, got one hell of a shock. Felt like a coil shock. Has anyone else had a problem like this or any ideas on what to check. Could not find any pinched wires, everything is connected. Also having a problem with rising my outdrive. It will not go up unless I push in and hold the trailer button with it. Not sure if related or not.

there is a trim limit switch on outdrive. one side has gauge, other side is limit switch. most likely wires broke going to limit switch. it could also be trim button itself, but far less likely. your ignition switch should not put 12 volts on your hand. I have been shocked by 12 volts stand on wet ground and it felt like a LOT more. more like house voltage than coil voltage though. if coil is bad, it could send high voltage to low volt side of coil and put 20 to 50 k volts on entire 12 volt electrical system, which would jump the gap in switch when you are grounded to shifter. I would consider float testing that coil...

Will check those. Also does anyone have a picture of how the starter should be wired. Mine has 2 large and 2 small terminals which seems odd. Currently I'm only using 1 of each which seems to work. But wondering if I have it right now, since I'm getting shocked while starting it only. Also how do you float test a coil?

battery + goes on the large post with the 90 amp fuse, red and orange go on the secondary side of fuse, yellow red stripe goes on the inside small terminal, the red wire on the fuse goes to the 50 amp breaker on top of the engine and the orange goes to the output of the alternator.

[QUOTE=scooby94;4572696. Also how do you float test a coil?[/QUOTE]

I snickered when I read that recommendation . When I worked in the shop back in the late 70's it was commonly given advice for testing anything used and electrical.
Especially spark plugs .

2 small terminals on starter. S (inboard one) is yellow with red stripe that fires starter. the other small terminal R used to be used on points ignition to provide a hotter spark while cranking. nothing should go there. you float test something by throwing it off the boat into the water and see if it floats...

You might check the main ground from the engine to the battery