87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

[jimsouv]

Hi guys I'm new to your great site and have been lurking for a while,but now I need some help. The other day my motor staled out while trolling at idle speed. When trying to restart it I think my battery was weak and would only crank but not fast enough to start. When I got it home I charged the battery and back to the lake we go. This time it started right up, but did stale a few times at idle.
So I'm back home now checking it out and find some wires have melted .I think from cranking it over for a long time. I think it's a ground wire but I don't know for what or how to fix it. Can I just splice it and get by .
Here's my boat.

Here's my burnt wires.

 

[jimsouv]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...

What are these wires for?

 

[jimsouv]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

?

 

[Fed]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

Follow the plastic sheathing where it leaves the motor, I think it will go to the PTT unit. If it does then the green & blue are for the PTT pump and the other 2 will go to the PTT sensor.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

marked in yellow, goes to PTT motor & tilt sensor.

Green is the PTT harness that goes to Controler to the PTT relay box.

without better picture, do not know for sure, where red goes.

 

[jimsouv]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

marked in yellow, goes to PTT motor & tilt sensor.

Green is the PTT harness that goes to Controler to the PTT relay box.

without better picture, do not know for sure, where red goes.

Thanks for the reply. The red is going to the block to be grounded. Does that sound right. Should that come from the PTT controler harness.
What would make the ground wire burn up. The PTT still works, and the motor still runs. Is it still safe to run the motor this way? Could that go to the PTT gauge?
Thanks Jim.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

Red is normally 12V positive and should NOT be grounded.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

The small black wire and the white with a tan stripe are the trim sender wires. They will melt if there is an intermittent or bad connection with the main ground cable from the battery. Electricity seeks its own path if the main one is bad.

It's a common symptom of a loose or corroded ground stud on the engine block or corrosion under the cable terminal.

 

[jimsouv]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

Red is normally 12V positive and should NOT be grounded.

The red wire tasasdaddy was talking about is black,he put a red mark on it for reference.
Does that come from the trim sender harness. The end of the wire on the block is not burnt just the middle. It looks like it could have been pinched.

 

[jimsouv]

Re: 87 Evinrude, burnt wires...pic's

The red wire tasasdaddy was talking about is black,he put a red mark on it for reference.
Does that come from the trim sender harness. The end of the wire on the block is not burnt just the middle. It looks like it could have been pinched.

Well I stand corrected The wire was green and as I said before it was a ground wire .I still don't know why it was burnt all the way from the block to the transom mount. Maybe someone hooked up the battery the wrong way ,I guess I could run a new wire in it's place. Can anyone see any problem with me doing that? Again thank you to all that responded to my post you where a great help.
Jim.