Broken wire!

BlackRev

Cadet
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
6
Took the boat today and ten minutes into the ride. Started blowing fuses when I hit big waves from the big crusiers on the water. So I babied it back to the trailer to take home and figure this out. Then it was blowing fuses in the driveway just turning the key on. So I felt there is a exposed wire grounding out some where. Well I found it finally after a hour of checking every connector under the dash and back to the motor.

It was the red and black wires going into the alternator through the rubber boot. The black wire broke right at the boot. So there is not enough to splice another wire to. I ended up taking apart the alternator to see what is what. Looks like I can make up a new connector to get it to go. During this I fixed other wires that the previous owners spliced together without electrical tape just the generic gray tape. What a mess that was.
 

BlackRev

Cadet
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
6
Re: Broken wire!

Ok I fixed the wire. Now I can't shut the motor off unless I pull the coil plug wire. I called the boat shop and he said I put the wires on backwards. Ok so I switched them around and it shuts the motor off, Great! Then I went the next day and dead battery. Figured I left the switch on. So I charged the battery back up. Couple days later dead battery again. WTH! So I switched the wires back to what I thought it should be. Motor starts up and shuts off,sweet dead problem fixed. Then again today I had to pull the plug wire to shut the motor off.

After this would I have a bad ignition switch? That it is not breaking contact when I shut the engine off. Which I think it is.
 

Fun Times

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
8,776
Re: Broken wire!

From your previous past post i see you have a 1986 Rinker V170 with a Mercruiser 140 3.0, I assume this still holds true?

I can only suspect you may have internal problems inside your alternator possibly due to the blowing fuses you experienced and the guy that told you to switch the wires was pretty good at diagnosing problems over the phone.

Do yourself a favor, don't assume your battery is fine after charging even if it shows you have 12 volts. you really need to have the battery thoroughly inspected to do any further testing that appears to be needed on the alternator charging system. Usually auto parts stores are able to thoroughly test the battery and in some cases the alternator as well.

Also keep in mind your Mercruiser service manual part #90-14693 1 - ENGINES - 4 CYLINDER GM SERVICE MANUAL (1985-1989) A.K.A #10 has a pretty thorough testing procedure of the alternator to follow. You may want to give that test a try.

And yes it's possible you may have a bad ignition switch as well. I believe there is a testing procedure about diagnosing the ignition switch somewhere up in the adults only section,
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288430

Hope this will help get you going once again, Good luck with it.:)
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
3,008
Re: Broken wire!

What kind of splice connections did you use that were fixed and taped? Twisting the wires together and taping them is a poor connection and can lead to problems down the road. Crimp connectors with heat shrink ends are much better at holding things together permanently.
 
Top