I finally found the problem! I had put a new battery in but turns out the wiring going through the side of the boat up to the switch had fried. someone before me had spliced the wires and did a terrible job. when the coatings melted off the blue wire was touching the power wire. I had ran new wires to the down limit switch but it had been by-passed in this splice so once i hooked it back up the motor would turn on if the switch was closed. Thanks for the responses guys!
