Jean Alexander wrote:
I have an 11' Whaler. I bought a 18 hp Nissan outboard. It was tiller
and I had it comverted to steering. Now if I touch the steering wheel
and the neutral throttle or the wheel and the kill switch on the motor,
I get a shock. This is only if the motor is running. It has an
electric starter, and a pull starter.

Are you getting a high voltage shock? Like you would get from touching
a spark plug lead? If so, it may be that that the kill switch works by
grounding the spark plug and is finding you to be a better path to
ground than the part it is mounted on. That could be because your motor
is not grounded.

I am female and know very little about electricity. I have friends
helping me, and we tried grounding the steering to the neutal post on
the battery to ground it. STill shocks me.

Take a battery jumper cable and try grounding the motor to the battery.
That would be from any convenient metal part on the motor to the
negative post on the battery if it is a negative ground system. If that
makes the problem go away then run a permanent ground wire from the
engine to the battery. If possible, ground the motor via a reinforcing
plate or something that stays on the boat when you remove the motor.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)