1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

hello i'm new to this site so i'm not sure if i posted this in the right spot but here goes, i just purchaced a 1985 doral 17' ski boat with a omc 3 liter engine this boat has 2 batteries with a big circular swith to change from batt 1 to batt 2 or all (it has 3 settings cause the guy had an amp and sub woofers) all that is disconected now probabally needs some clean up, i see a couple large wires hanging off the battery ( i assume they were for the amp) anyways yesterday i tried to hook up my radio with 2 wires from underneath the dash they came straight from a bracket that has about 20 tabs for hooking up different things i guess, so the radio worked just fine except it was continuous circut (it didn't shut off with the key) I had to shut it off manually, anyways somhow in the mix, 2 things changed the instrument lights stayed on after key was removed and the battery meter on the dash won't work anymore? i removed the radio and returned everything the way it was but it stayed like this, it was late and i wanted to turn in, i tried disconecting the main power to the ignition switch this had no affect so the only option i had was to disconect the battery so i didn't drain it, i woke up and reconected the batt and still the same thing?? on my boat there is a switch panel on the right side of steering wheel it has 6 toggle switches and then 5 round buttons i'm not sure if they are swithches (they look like it from the back) they seem to push in but none of these button switches seem to do anything but maybe they do and one is stuck on? i'm not sure, does anybody have a solution or a way to narrow down the problem? also just to let youz know i have some info handy for this boat and engine i have the origanal doral maintenance book for electrical system and piping system (doesn't go into detail about dash lights just shows wiring path) i also have the OMC stern drive operators manual, i also have the omc stern drive installation instructions for 2.5/ 3.0/ 3.8/ 5.0 and 5.7L models and i have the Seloc OMC 1964-1986 stern drive tune-up and repair manual if any information could help sombody else let me know! your help would be greatly appretiated Thanks!!

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

alright i figured out what the bottons beside switches are they are fuses, all fuses are good, i just replaced any burn wires i could find uner the dash it seems that there are a couple things not working my battery guage, my rpm guage, and my fuel guage, i must have burn a connection somewhere but not sure how to find the problem my engine runs fine, but instruments arn't working right

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

The instrument lights stayed on because the "L" (light) connection on the gauges is receiving a constant +12 volts. This circuit is controlled either by the "I" (ignition) terminal on the ignition switch or by the NAV/ANC light switch. The NAV/ANC switch is independent of the ignition switch so just because the key is off does not mean the lights are off. The NAV/ANC switch is OFF in the center.

You probably do NOT have any burned wires because that would have blown some fuses or popped circuit breakers. There is nothing common between the three gauges you mention so each one has its own problem. The order of failure is 1) wiring, 2) sender, and 3) gauge.

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Thanks very much for the reply i figurd out the fuel guage is ok just my float and sender was a little stiff i loosened it up it's all working fine so i just need to figure out the panel lights ( i will try to find the continuous feed) and the rpm guage (so are you suggesting that it could possible be the ignition switch causing the problem aswell, how could i confirm this without rplacment if nessisary)? also i had one more devolopment yesterday i was running my engine with muffs for about 5 mins and when finished i noticed a peice of rubber on the ground it looks like a seal of some sort it has a peice of steel sandwiched betweeen 2 peices if thin rubber it looks like only half of this is out i'm not sure where it came from but i'm pretty certain it came from inside my motor i looked all around the outside of my out-drive and it didn't come from there the only place i could assume it came from is the exhaust relief vent (scary) the gasket is a perfect half torn it's about 3 1/2" x 2 inches of (half a circle) i have to take the stern drive off in spring cause the owner before me patched the main transom seal around the engine with a potion of a bike tube, needless to say the rubber is starting to peel, it seems to big of a risk against the cost of the part, so i will replace it in spring but any ideas in the mean time concerning the rubber seal, where did it come from? any ideas would be great Thanks!

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Silvertip said:

The instrument lights stayed on because the "L" (light) connection on the gauges is receiving a constant +12 volts. This circuit is controlled either by the "I" (ignition) terminal on the ignition switch or by the NAV/ANC light switch. The NAV/ANC switch is independent of the ignition switch so just because the key is off does not mean the lights are off. The NAV/ANC switch is OFF in the center.

You probably do NOT have any burned wires because that would have blown some fuses or popped circuit breakers. There is nothing common between the three gauges you mention so each one has its own problem. The order of failure is 1) wiring, 2) sender, and 3) gauge.

Click to expand...

Aren't the grounds daisey chained at the guage?

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Grounds, +12 volts for gauge operation and the light circuit are all daisy chained. Understand that I'm describing two ways instrument lights are wired. 1) via the ignition switch so whenever the key is on, the panel lights are on. 2) Via the Nav/Anc switch. This is not rocket science. Set the NAV/ANC switch to its center off position. Turn the ignition switch off. NOW -- are the iinstrument lights ON? Yes = you have a constant 12 volt feed to the instrument light circuit that needs to be fixed. No = Turn on the ignition switch. Panel lights on? Yes = the ignition switch controls the lights and there is no problem. No = the NAV/ANC switch controls the lights and there is no problem. As the first step in this process pointed out, you only have a problem if the lights are on when BOTH the Nav/Anc AND ignition switch are off.

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

that makes sense to me the only thing is that i seen a wire that went from the igniton switch to the first guage closest to it i disconected that wire couple days ago and the lights stayed on, but i traced a second wire that came off of a tab panel (not sure what it's correct name is but it's a panel with 20 or so tabs to connect wires either for straight power or ignition power not sure) with other wires connected to this panel aswell and that stopped the lights for now so maybe that whole tab panel is suposed to have power only with ignition? but is now continuous? i don't know? i can try to take a pictue of the area it might help describe what i looking at anyways thanks! guys

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Put your thinking cap on. If the lights were connected to a tab panel that was supposed to be active only when the ignition was on -- but it was active all the time, wouldn't anything else connected to that panel be active all the time as well??? You keep speculating but did you actually use the instructions in my last post? Unless you approach this logically we will never get this resolved.

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Sounds like somehow you connected your guage light's positive to a hot busbar that stays on at all times. Now the question is, if the busbar is actually ignition switched to be on, what hot wire did you clip to it??

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

my thinking cap is on, both nav/anc and igniton are in off position lights are still on = i have a problem, also i havn't cliped any wiress to busbar or anywhere else, I only unhooked the one one wire from busbar that feeds the lights to shut them off for now so i don't drain the battery, but the second i plug it back in the lights will be on all the time the only thing i did since i've owned it was flick the switches to see what worked after purchace so maybe the nav/anc switch is stuck on the problem can't be the igniton switch becuse i can watch the other guages turn on and off when i turn key to Acc and off again, is the busbar supposed to be continuous or powered by ignition? how can i tell? how does a busbar work is theer a main power wire that supplies this busbar?

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Bus bars can be wired in many ways. They can be fed directly from the battery so they are hot all the time. They can be fed by the +12 volt line going INTO the ignition switch so the bus bar will be hot all the time. It can be fed by the I (ignition) or A (accessory) terminal on the ignition switch so it would be active only in with the switch in that position. Are you certain you are looking at a POSITIVE bus bar and not a NEGATIVE. If it was a negative bus bar and you pulled the GROUND wire for the lights the lights would obviously go off. If you have a fuse panel there really is no need for a POSITIVE bus bar. Use your meter and see if that bus bar goes active with key on (RUN or ACC position). If it does, then the wiring to the panel lights is really hosed up. If the wire you are pulling really IS the hot wire for the lights, then the lights should turn on and off as well as anything connected to that bus bar. Check the back side of the NAV/ANC switch. How many terminals do you see? Are there any tabs that don't have a wire on them.

Lastly -- check the sticky at the very top of this page titled "Generic Boat Wiring". It shows how the vast majority of instrument panels are wired. Yours should be that way too. It also shows where what a bus bar does. The ground wires in that diagram are on a bus bar. There is no POSITIVE buss bar as all circuits are fed from the fuse panel.

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

that helps me out a bit it's dark right now and the cover is on boat so i will check that busbar in the morning i do believe it a negative busbar as most of the wires are black that go into it, i have a hioki model # 3210 digital pocket Hi tester (given to me but no instructions) that i've been using to check my batteries it has an AC/DC button and a range button then a couple buttons on the side one is v for volts so i've been setting it to DC and reading volts it has a red + and black - probe wires coming from it so, could you tell me how to use this tool to check if busbar is negative or possative, i also have a cheap multitester if that would work better but not sure how to use that either, sorry i know i'm a handful somtimes but electrical i'm not very good at you've already been a great help Thanks! very much

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

whats a sticky i'm guessing an attachment but i can't seem to find it, I looked at the top of this post (page) with no luck?

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

hit your back button and look at the first post

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

Thanks Lyle, i couldn't find the sticky cause whenever i signed in i would just click on my replies which would just bring me to this post pressing back just brought me to my other posts but i figured it out it's under electrical catagory first post by silvertip, i got er, yes mine looks very much the same with the same colours well the blue anyways i will look this afternoon and compare with diagram and use my tester to see whats continuous with the key off Thanks!

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

If all the wires on that bus bar are black then that indeed is a GROUND connection point for all accessories. If you pull any wire on that connection point whatever that wire is associated with will quite so it proves nothing.

Stickies are located at the top of the ELECTRICAL FORUM, not the top of this page. Posts that have been deemed by the Moderators of this forum to be useful and frequently referenced are placed at the top of the forum.

Once you review the sticky, you will see that the instrument lights are daisy chained (hot lead goes from the first gauge to the next, then the next etc.) Find the first gauge in the string and note where the light wire originates. It is probably connected to an always hot terminal which is obviously wrong. It must be a swtiched circuit -- hence connected either at the Nav/Anc switch OR the ignition switch. If it connects to the ignition switch the lights will be on any time the ignition is on which is acceptable, but not the most logical in my view. Why have them lit in broad daylight?????? So they should be connected to the NAV side of the Nav/Anc switch so they are on when the NAV lights are on. They also don't need to be on when at anchor -- hence the reason for having them wired to the NAV side of the switch.

Re: 1985 doral instrument lights wont shut off

thanks silvertip very helpful i was too busy today to get out there, but as soon as i do i will let youz know the result Thanks! again