[Brian]

Hello again

I have been working on this electrical problem for the last two weeks. I have no power at all to the dash area/Ignition switch. Battery is good. All new connections and terminals in this area. Found a 50a resetable circuit breaker at the distributor but this was ok. Had power on either side of the terminals. Fuse at battery good. Is there any other fuse/s hidden up front at all? Took the breaker panel out. No power anywhere back there.
This is getting old.
Any suggestions would be appreciated or if anyone else has had this symptom hell you can even call me at 610 297 1393 until 11pm.
Brian

Maybe no play this weekend.

[Brian]

Well its 2330 and i now can rest. The problem was located in the engine compartment. On what would be the starboard side rear of the engine just adjacent to the distributor is a large black cylinder shaped looking electrical plug. Its about 1.5 inches in diameter and about 4 inches high. At the base of it there was a radiator hose clamp. I noticed it was not tightened so when i looked closer i decided to see what it was. When it came apart i saw it was the male end of a giant molex plug. I re-inserted it and checked the electronics and no **** they all work again. I wonder if there should be a clamp there? It would seem so to stop this from happeneing. I wonder who never tightened it...I curse them.
So now to only re-assemble everything else i took apart and hope i did not induce any ghosts to the system. Better that it happened in the garage and not on the water.
We will see tomorrow after the re-assembly how it fans out.

Laters,
Brian

[mikeyt]

I'm glad to hear you found the problem Brian. It sounds like you did the correct thing and simply traced wiring backwards 'til you found the cause. No power generally means a loose or bad connection somewhere and the trick is simply to find it.

[indykoch]

Good job Brian! Electrical problems are the worst thing I fear. Finding that plug would have taken me weeks. Thanks for posting the update and congrats!

[kingtide]

I've got electrical problems too. My voltmeter and fuel gauges aren't working and my bilge pump does not work. The bilge pump switch stays lit when the switch is off. i am going to do some troubleshooting on the boat this weekend.

[Brian]

Hi there
When i was under the dash area, i saw a fuse block near the starboard side of the steering wheel. I believe these fuses are for the gauges. You may want to examine them with a meter as sometimes they look good but they are not. They should read close to a short but not open. I know when i had all of my ground wires off except for the + & - Mains, my switch lights were illuminated due to the poor or non existent ground. My boat had no oxidation on the terminals but i cleaned them anyway and used di-electric grease when re-installing them. As for your bilge, you can try unplugging it and running the wires directly to the battery to see if it is the pump. Mine has an inline fuse on the positive red wire just after the battery lug. It also has a float, So that it would come on automatically with water or can be turned on by the console switch.
If you have your manual, it shows the wiring schematic starting on page 9. If not i believe its on the website. If not let me know.
I dont know your skill level but have patience and use a logical method of elimination.
Does everything else electrically work?

Good luck
Brian