No power to all the dash circuits

[GM165]

So I have no power to all the dash circuits except the trim/trailer switch. I thought it would be the kill switch so took the panel off and followed the wires to see they were not connected to anything. They were just left unplugged.

Now the boat ran fine when I first bought it. Ran fine the next trip and then ran fine the start of the third trip. Then lost power. Then it came back. Then it dies again and I've nothing since. No blower, bilge pump, horn, wiper and all worked fine at first.

I'm going to dig in and see where the power stops. But what does the breaker on the motor control and could it be bad? It does not seem to be popped. The first fuse in line to the power circuit seems fine. And what should the purple wires from the kill switch be plugged into? They had been zipped-tied up and it is clear they were not plugged into anything while it was running fine.

Anyone who can point me in the right direction is appreciated.

 

[Bt Doctur]

start with the battery cable ends where they connect to the starter and the block.
See if there is a whitish plastic block mounted to the starters main lug, that's a 90A fuse link

 

[Bondo]

It does not seem to be popped. The first fuse in line to the power circuit seems fine.

Ayuh,..... A plain ole Test Light will answer most of yer questions,.....

I agree with BD, clean to Shiny metal Clean, All the electrical connections, startin' at the battery posts, 'n includin' both ends of both cables,....

Grounds are just as important as power,...

 

[GM165]

So. I'm confused.

Testing at the ignition switch, I have power on the B terminal with the key out, no power on the I or S.

Turn the key on and I have no power at any of them. How can turning the key on cause it to not have power on the B terminal? I was grounded (through a long wire) right to the battery to remove the ground wires from the equation. What else would be impacting power to the B terminal with the switch off or on?

 

[achris]

If you have a resistive circuit then with no load you will see 12v. But when you put load on(turn on the key) the voltage drops. Start at the key B and work back. First both ends of the fuse, then the connection of the key harness to the main instrument harness etc.

 

[Bt Doctur]

go to the starter and jump the battery cable jug to the small lug with the yellow/red wire, report results

 

[GM165]

Finally looking at this again. I have power to a fairly large red wire going to the dash, but I think I should have power to the orange wire as well. It is the one that gives me 12v at the switch until I turn the switch on. Then it drops to 0. Same thing if I turn on lights or hit the horn button. 12V to 0V. I traced it back to the main plug at the back of the engine and the same thing happens. I'm thinking something at the engine and not the dash.

Looking at the wiring diagrams now to see what is on the other side of the plug that leads to the orange wire.

 

[GM165]

Might be getting somewhere.

Under the dash is a large connector. The main red lead goes is on both sides of the connector. On the incoming side, I have 12v with no issues. The outgoing side goes to the ammeter and it has issues. 12V until I press a button (horn or something). I think the connector is my issue but am wondering if it has any fuse or link in it at all. I can't see anything in the wiring diagrams that suggest it has something. My thought is to cut the red wire on either side of the connector and jump it. I can't for the life of me get the damn thing apart and don't really want to pull the dash at this point.

Playing with the connector, I did scare myself with the horn working at one point. Then I could get the wiper to work for a bit. But it all stopped working again.

Any of this make sense to anyone?

 

[GM165]

That fixed it. Everything else in the connector seems to work so now to fix the tire and see if she runs again.

 

[Grandad]

Might be getting somewhere.

Under the dash is a large connector. The main red lead goes is on both sides of the connector. On the incoming side, I have 12v with no issues. The outgoing side goes to the ammeter and it has issues. 12V until I press a button (horn or something). I think the connector is my issue but am wondering if it has any fuse or link in it at all. I can't see anything in the wiring diagrams that suggest it has something. My thought is to cut the red wire on either side of the connector and jump it. I can't for the life of me get the damn thing apart and don't really want to pull the dash at this point.

Playing with the connector, I did scare myself with the horn working at one point. Then I could get the wiper to work for a bit. But it all stopped working again.

Any of this make sense to anyone?

The large connector that you can't seem to get apart is probably badly corroded or has somehow been damaged. Jumping that 1 wire may fix things for today, but if that's corrosion causing the problem, you'll have another problem with another wire tomorrow. I'd get the connector apart or abandon it entirely and jumper all the wires for piece of mind and to avoid future disappointments. Electrical things only fail when you go to use them and in a boat that's not usually a convenient time.
- Grandad

 

[GM165]

Oh, Ive thought about that. For now I got solved my issue but I may cut the whole thing out. I've got a couple of dead gauges so I have to dig into the dash anyway.

 

[Ce2424]

So I have a 1980 Century 190 and I’ve been having the same problem. I turn the key sometimes it has power and sometimes it doesn’t. As soon as I try to turn it over it kicks something and no longer has power to anything. I checked with my volt meter and I have 9 volts at the battery terminal on the ignition but as soon as I turn it on it goes to zero. I’m lost as to what you did that helped.

 

[achris]

Ce2424. Please start your own thread, and as per Forum rules, not tack onto a 4 year old thread.

Chris
iboats mod team