Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Joined
Jan 8, 2012
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12
Hello all,

Thanks in advance for the help. In a stroke of good luck, I was at the dock to trailer when my son tried to tilt the engine up on my old 91 yamaha o/b. The tilt stopped working, and then I noticed that the gauges were off and has now decided not to start. The VHF and Depth/fish finder work, running lights, livewell are fine. Thankfully we are all home and safe, looking for the fix!
Info off hand, Yam 91 150 v6 ob on a proline 21 cc. I am hoping it is a fuse of something but have checked all that I know of with no luck. Thanks!!

-John
 

JB

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45,907
Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Ahoy CaptJohn.

Welcome to iboats. :)

Pretty typical symptoms of corrosion in the battery circuit, which allows enough current to run things like SONAR and radio, but can't pass enough to run your PT&T or starter. There are other possibilities, but this is so common and so easy to fix that I always recommend it first.

Take both ends of both battery cables off their connections. Check the cables for swelling or weakness from internal corrosion, then scrub all connections shiny and reconnect. Give particular attention to the connection of the tinned copper ground cable terminal from the battery to the alloy engine block with a steel bolt. This is a corrosion factory even when clean looking and tight.

Let us know how that does, and good luck. :)
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2012
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Test post......my others got lost.
 
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Jan 8, 2012
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Ok, not that I have the board sorted out.....*garr*


I did as you suggested without much luck. One thing I was not sure of is where the ground is to the engine block. I did find out that there was a wire that went from a 50A breaker to the batt selector that was corroded and had fallen off. When I reattached the wire, the VHF and sonar turned on. The reg radio and instrument cluster are still not working.

I was wondering if there could be a failure in the batt selector. I cleaned all but one terminal on the selector and will clean the other in a few. Could I just pull the switch and see if that helps?? I can post a photo of the mess if that helps at all. Thanks again for your help!

John
 
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Jan 8, 2012
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Tracing wires....engine has 12v thinking there is a prob under the dash...looking for where the power drops off. Also, the batt switch does not do anything switched to #1 and only turns on the Vhf etc when switched to "all" just an update. Thanks!
 

Don S

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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Look at your battery cables where they attach to the battery. Are they clean and tight? I don't mean tight with your thumb and finger on a wingnut, I mean tight with a wrench, and shiny clean. That includes the terminals crimped on the end of the cables, and there are both positive and negative cable.
 

Silvertip

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Sep 22, 2003
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28,758
Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Gauges and PT&T are in the engine harness and that feed is typically protected by a fuse or breaker at the engine. Check there. The boat typically has a separate harness that feeds accessories.
 

JB

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45,907
Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

You need to find that ground cable, CaptJohn. It is a big wire that goes from the battery negative terminal to the engine block. Because it is a tri-metal connection corrosion, in time, is guaranteed even when it looks clean and is tight.

You have switches and a main fuse in the positive side of the circuit. Every connection must be clean and tight, not just look that way.
 
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Thanks JB! More checking tomorrow....it seems like the cleaning never ends!! Thank you very much for your time. I will make sure everything is clean and tight, and get back soon hopefully with good news. Than you for your time, it is much appreciated :)

-John
 
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Thanks Don!

I'm checking, cleaning and checking again. Thank you for your time!! I'll let ya know how it turns out. :)
 

Home Cookin'

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May 26, 2009
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9,715
Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Isn't there a fuse in the housing for the starter and PTT like the short 20A fuse on the OMC? Mine also covered the fuel guage. Engine kept running when it popped but no restart/PTT.
 
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Hey Home cookin'

as a matter of fact, you are correct!! I just located it...blown! Changed fuse, engine started right up! TT is working again! On the downside, now the engine wont shut off with the key?? I'm looking at that now....err also the fuel gauge side turned off.....garr!! A short moment of victory though :) Thanks for the help!

...... update.....now that its dark, I see that the left gauge is lighting up, but no info shown. I'm going to put everything back together tmw and see where I am, perhaps that will do something.
-John
 

Home Cookin'

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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

sounds like the blown fuse was the end result of a larger problem. If all this occurred "by itself" rather than after repair attempts, you may have a wire that has rubbed a short/connection. It can happen in line, or at the control panels where one paddle connector gets crooked and touches another. My year and a half search ultimately found that my steering apparatus was bent and occasionally touched the power wire to the fuel guage.
 
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

It did occur "on its own," so I think you are right about a possible short somewhere. There is a bus board under the CC that seems a bit cluttered. I was thinking of checking all of the wires, cleaning and re-attaching them...although they are a pain to get to. A whole heap of wires are underneath....some being used...some not. Thanks for the input! Raining today, but hope to get out tmw and take a look at that board again and perhaps that will reveal the problem. I would love to have the lines cleaned up, but also don't want the problem to get worse by me messing about!!
 
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Jan 8, 2012
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Hey all,

Checked the contacts, no go.....still does not kill with the switch or safety lanyard...I'm stumped once again. if anyone as some input, it would be helpful...

Thanks!!

-John
 

99yam40

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Sep 7, 2008
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8,851
Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

the key switch and safety lanyard switch take the ignition system to ground to stop the motor.
look to see that the ground is still good or better yet check it with a meter
and then make sure the white wire back to the CDI is still intact
 
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Jan 8, 2012
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Re: Came into dock, tilt crapped out and no more starting!! Helllllp!

Thanks again 99yam,

I;ve got a buddy coming by hopefully tomorrow to take a look and see where the prob might be. I'll keep ya posted. thanks again for your help!

-John
 
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