At a loss! Dead in the water.

Looking for help. Got the '04 Q4 out to the lake last weekend. everything electrically worked fine. Once on the water trying to pull away from the trailer, it would not turn over and kept cranking. By then the bro in law was gone with the trailer and truck. So out on the water it just kept cranking and winding down like the battery was dying. (both batteries were charged the day before.) So thinking that may be the prob, the father in law and i changed the wires over to the trolling batt. thinking we could at least crank it with that. once we did, NOTHING. Threw the anchor out re-attached batteries to normal positions and spent four hours on the lake retracing every wire and fuse. Now all that comes on is the blower, livewell pump/bilge and lights. I have no power for master, ignition won't alarm or crank and no stereo. Any thoughts? Deep down I know this is a simple fix and think I am overlooking something. Could it be the fuse at the battery/cranking wire, bad ignition or???? any thoughts greatly appreciated. I am losing some good fishing time.
signed, dead in the water

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Try the basic's,fuel,is it gettingfuel? Is ther spark atthe spark plug? Squrt some fuel in a cyclinder,then try start trying it. Just old basic question you can find anywhere on the net. Good luck.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

When you switch battery connections from cranking battery to trolling motor battery you should have only used one battery instead of the two that are connected in series which makes it 24 volts. If you didn't it would have blown your fuses. I would start by replacing all of the fuses then check all connections. Then check that the motor is getting fuel. You may also post under Engine Repair and Maintenance forum. Mechanics will help you with this problem.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

... Seems trivial - but during the initial no start cranking did you check the kill switch and lanyard? I felt pretty stupid back in July after grinding the starter for 5 minutes and then finding the lanyard hanging!!!

After switching batteries sounds like a fuse blown or wired incorrect.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

jrampey said:

... Seems trivial - but during the initial no start cranking did you check the kill switch and lanyard? I felt pretty stupid back in July after grinding the starter for 5 minutes and then finding the lanyard hanging!!!

After switching batteries sounds like a fuse blown or wired incorrect.

Click to expand...

I thought of asking him this too but, with all the help he was getting, I figured one of them would have checked it. I did the samething on my first outing this year. Although the lanyard was attached to kill switch, the switch was half way down. I also felt kinda stupid...DUH.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Yes, i checked the kill switch, done that one too, falls under "i'm an idiot" category. I appreciate all the help here. I did check all the fuses and wiring, why would all the accesories still work and not the master, ignition and stereo. I realize these must be wired to the master which keeps bringing me back to the cranking wire from my main batt. Plugs are good. Something happened between the time i swapped wires on the batts. And yes i did not do a series type connection, i did a wholesale swap to the trolling batt to get juice and nothing.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

I'm not a mechanic but I would test the continuity of that wire you suspect. It may be fried somewhere that is not visible. I still would post this problem under the Engine Repair and Maintenance forum. I'm sure you'll get a quick answer.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

The master power and the ignition power are actually two seperate systems.The smaller lead coming off your battery with a fuse with a small black reset on it will be your master to the fuses under the helm.the next larger red will be your trim pump leads. The l;argest goes direct to the starter where there will be a square looking fuse.on the top of the motor , there will be another reset type fuse that will have a red button on it , if triped you can see a yellow arm , just push the arm back up to reset.Again on top of the motor will be a wire cluster going to yet another set of mini fuses, the black cover will come off , check the blue fuse , that will be the master ignition fuse. normally there will be two blue fuses , the one in the middle is a spare. . The fuses at the fuse panel below the helm are accessory fuses , no ignitlon protection at these fuses.Even though you dont see corrosion buildup at the battrey post, ther could be corrosion where the lugs are crimped on the wires. A simple test light works wonders! Good luck. You might look under the helm , a plug might have come loose just enough , I would give them all a good push together.You can eliminate the kill switch from the loop to eliminate it as a problem. Follow the two purple wires from the shifter to where they plug together, pull apart , the two ends from the shifter leave loose, the two you unpluged from connect them together. The two yellow /red stripe wires at the shifter are your neutral safety , you can also do the same with them.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

the light bulb went off, thanks for your post! i will get the boat out tomorrow and check these i didnt even know about these. i suspected that i may have blown the one on top of the motor, it was not blown, the the square attwood 50 amp at the battery was not tripped but i suspect it may be a culprit too. I will check the others you recommended, thanks again!

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

There is a 90 amp fuse on the starter looks like a white block. I have had the same problem before.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

any luck , what did you find??

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Im interested in the resolution to this. I had a similar problem yesterday but I had no initial cranking. I turn the key and nothing. The boat is new to me but I think I remember the gauges coming on when the key is turned to on. They were not coming on. Everything else electrical worked fine. I looked for about 2 hours for a fuse that may have blown or a reset somewhere that had been tripped and nothing. Not trying to hi jack the threajust a similar situation.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

nm double post

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

The white block where power cable from the battery is connected and the red and orange cable come out the back side is a 90 amp fuse? Does this sound like the solution to my problem?

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

No update as of yet, it's at the shop. I reluctantly took it in, but i was at my wits end. I am waiting to hear the prognosis. I will keep you updated and hopefully can pass on what they found.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

OK gents, latest update, it did wind up being the fuse on the starter so we are back in business. Also the battery wasn't holding a charge even though it showed full charge here at home on the charger. So if you havent already, check that fuse on the starter. good luck!

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Thanks sigfire i will get a new fuse and see what happens.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

I bought a voltmeter today to check the fuse. First time using one so bear with me. I set it to 20k on ohms. I put the wires on either side of the fuse and it zeroed out. Checked from the battery terminal to both sides of the fuse all checked out. I am thinking maybe its in the ignition. Has anyone taken the dash apart? I pulled the four screws holding the instrument cluster on but there wasnt enough cable to move it but an inch or so.

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Still having the same issues with ignition took the dash apart and check the terminals on the ignition all of checked out still have no idea what's going on with the boat

Re: At a loss! Dead in the water.

Did you check the connections to the throttle remote? when i bought mine it did the same thing and found out the two torpedo connectors were barely connected and will not allow ignition start as a safety default. just a thought.