I have a 100 Hp Merc (early 1990's). The motor won't start. We did a quick test at the lake and found no spark. I immediately suspected the ignition switch box. Back in the garage, I went through the troubleshooting procedure and found an open circuit on the stator low speed winding (Blue to Blue/White).

The first question would be, is it likely that this is the only problem? I'm concerned that the switch box may have failed first and the stator was secondary. Is this a possibility? I don't want to replace the stator only to fail the new part.

Related, when I pulled the flywheel, I discovered a broken magnet. I'm not sure how long this has been bad, it may have broken when I pulled the stator. Any chance this is part of the problem?

Lastly for now, I happen to have a replacement flywheel that I picked up a couple of years ago. Thing is, the newer flywheel is red. My original flywheel is black. Is there any difference?

Sorry about the multiple postings. It was my first time, and I was getting an error message. I figured that meant the topic didn't post. Color me stupid.