Bayliner Bowrider 175 (2004), no power to anything other than Trim

Drewdles

Recruit
Joined
Jun 10, 2022
Messages
3
The boat has no power to gauges, blower, bilge, horn, lights, starter, etc. But the trim works.
Mercruiser 3.0 stern drive engine/. Boat is the sport model with the sundeck/sunbed on the bacl with the engine under it.

Backstory...

First time trying to start the boat since winter.

My girlfriend got a new battery for the boat but forget to take a picture of how the cables were connected.. She, along with a couple of others eventually got all the cables correct, thick red and two smaller reds to positive and two thick yellows and at least one other black to negative... But at one point one of the photos she sent me had one smaller red on the positive and the other smaller red on negative (nothing else connected)... And they also tried so other ways which gave a few small sparks, etc... So who knows what damage, if any was done...
She had a marina confirm the cables now all look properly connected from a photo (attached, she has also put the yellows on the bottom of the post and smaller wires on top since the photo was taken)
IMG_6224.jpg
So I had her test the two inline fuses at the battery (both on the smaller red wires) as well as the fuses mounted under the dash. All are good and a previous friend had told her they had all looked good, I had her use to multimeter to be 100 percent.

So I am a bit confused, what it might be. I have very basic electronics and schematic skills.... And not there in person to assist... I have read other posts of the 50amp breaker button needed to be reset, she says she can't push it, so I assume that means it is in a current good state (it was replaced a couple of years ago as well so is relatively new)... And I have read about the 90amp starter fuse....
To me the bilge, blower, lights, horn, etc should work since the ignition isn't required for those, so I don't think it would be the starter fuse. And if the 50amp breaker is already reset, it shouldn't be that. Are there any other fuses I am missing anywhere. I have read the odd place that some ignition switches have an inline fuse, but the schematic shows it in the fuse box under the cockpit if I understand correctly, so assuming on a smaller boat there is no inline fuse. But even if there was, again the ignition is not required for the lights or any of the accessories....

So the only think I can think of now is there is a bad wire or connector to a wire somewhere.. Is there anything other than that, that would make the trim work but nothing else?

Worse case in a few weeks when I am back up there I can try some multimeter troubleshooting or she can pay someone to come onsite... Was hoping it was something simple I might be able to step her through so she can get the boat in the water..

There are no real extra accessories, ie, no trolling motor or anything, just the radio that came with it that has never worked.

Any ideas or suggestions on where else to start would be much appreciated.
 
Last edited:

briangcc

Commander
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
2,385
To me, not being there to trace cables, it looks like you have more heavy duty connections to the negative post than the positive post. Again, to me, IF all those negative wires were pulling that kind of Amperage, you'd quickly fry that lone positive heavy gauge wire.

Something's off and I bet one of those thick yellow wires OR the wire in the convoluted tubing should be on the positive post. This requires tracing wires, not guessing and seeing what causes less sparks.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
49,860
Looks like someone wired the + cables to the - term

Follow the yellow cables
 

poconojoe

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
1,966
It does seem strange that there are two, maybe even three large cables on the negative, yet only one large cable on the positive.

Can you get her to use the multimeter to check that there is power on both sides of that 50 amp breaker button on the engine? If there's power on both sides, then that 50 amp breaker is good.
But I'm not sure if that breaker covers all that stuff you mentioned. Isn't that just for the engine? Maybe someone can confirm that.

My Bayliner is the 185BR, also with sport seating. It has a fuse panel behind the helm. Maybe your's has the same panel. Check for power at that fuse panel. Funny thing is....that fuse panel behind my helm only has positive power, no negative, so you need to get a source for negative to use your multimeter.

Dumb question....
Is there a big red Perko battery switch somewhere she might not be aware of?
 

Drewdles

Recruit
Joined
Jun 10, 2022
Messages
3
It does seem strange that there are two, maybe even three large cables on the negative, yet only one large cable on the positive.

Can you get her to use the multimeter to check that there is power on both sides of that 50 amp breaker button on the engine? If there's power on both sides, then that 50 amp breaker is good.
But I'm not sure if that breaker covers all that stuff you mentioned. Isn't that just for the engine? Maybe someone can confirm that.

My Bayliner is the 185BR, also with sport seating. It has a fuse panel behind the helm. Maybe your's has the same panel. Check for power at that fuse panel. Funny thing is....that fuse panel behind my helm only has positive power, no negative, so you need to get a source for negative to use your multimeter.

Dumb question....
Is there a big red Perko battery switch somewhere she might not be aware of?
There is no main battery switch., But trim wouldn't work if there was one and it was off... I think yourself and briangcc are right, one of the cables (wild guess the one in the tubing/conduit) should be positive... But we aren't going to guess, either I will go up there at some point and trace it or she'll get someone to come or take it to a marina... She is the only owner of the boat, so frustrating when proper colour coding isn't followed... The cable in the conduit is black, which in theory should also be negative...
 

poconojoe

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
1,966
There is no main battery switch., But trim wouldn't work if there was one and it was off... I think yourself and briangcc are right, one of the cables (wild guess the one in the tubing/conduit) should be positive... But we aren't going to guess, either I will go up there at some point and trace it or she'll get someone to come or take it to a marina... She is the only owner of the boat, so frustrating when proper colour coding isn't followed... The cable in the conduit is black, which in theory should also be negative...
See if she can physically follow that wire covered with the plastic loom.
 

Drewdles

Recruit
Joined
Jun 10, 2022
Messages
3
The boat has no power to gauges, blower, bilge, horn, lights, starter, etc. But the trim works.
Mercruiser 3.0 stern drive engine/. Boat is the sport model with the sundeck/sunbed on the bacl with the engine under it.

Backstory...

First time trying to start the boat since winter.

My girlfriend got a new battery for the boat but forget to take a picture of how the cables were connected.. She, along with a couple of others eventually got all the cables correct, thick red and two smaller reds to positive and two thick yellows and at least one other black to negative... But at one point one of the photos she sent me had one smaller red on the positive and the other smaller red on negative (nothing else connected)... And they also tried so other ways which gave a few small sparks, etc... So who knows what damage, if any was done...
She had a marina confirm the cables now all look properly connected from a photo (attached, she has also put the yellows on the bottom of the post and smaller wires on top since the photo was taken)
View attachment 362499
So I had her test the two inline fuses at the battery (both on the smaller red wires) as well as the fuses mounted under the dash. All are good and a previous friend had told her they had all looked good, I had her use to multimeter to be 100 percent.

So I am a bit confused, what it might be. I have very basic electronics and schematic skills.... And not there in person to assist... I have read other posts of the 50amp breaker button needed to be reset, she says she can't push it, so I assume that means it is in a current good state (it was replaced a couple of years ago as well so is relatively new)... And I have read about the 90amp starter fuse....
To me the bilge, blower, lights, horn, etc should work since the ignition isn't required for those, so I don't think it would be the starter fuse. And if the 50amp breaker is already reset, it shouldn't be that. Are there any other fuses I am missing anywhere. I have read the odd place that some ignition switches have an inline fuse, but the schematic shows it in the fuse box under the cockpit if I understand correctly, so assuming on a smaller boat there is no inline fuse. But even if there was, again the ignition is not required for the lights or any of the accessories....

So the only think I can think of now is there is a bad wire or connector to a wire somewhere.. Is there anything other than that, that would make the trim work but nothing else?

Worse case in a few weeks when I am back up there I can try some multimeter troubleshooting or she can pay someone to come onsite... Was hoping it was something simple I might be able to step her through so she can get the boat in the water..

There are no real extra accessories, ie, no trolling motor or anything, just the radio that came with it that has never worked.

Any ideas or suggestions on where else to start would be much appreciated.

Thank you to all who took the time to reply with your suggestions... I ended up going up there today to look at it... The larger yellow wire is ground to the motor and the other yellow goes to a bus bar full of small yellow wires, surely another ground... And the small black I didn't trace, but was sure it was negative... I pulled back the corregated conduit and low and behold it was a thick red cable going to the starter.... They didn't look close I guess as it had a black rubber heat shrink tube at the connector.. Anyhow, obviously I moved that over to the positive, but still dead.. Had power before the starter fuse but not after. Luckily I picked one up on the way up (they are not cheap! $66 CDN, however he said it was old stock and to order now is $80 Canadian)... After that, I had power everywhere and everything was working... Other than the starter went click click.. I knew the slave starter solenoid was going and had picked one up two years ago for her, so replaced that too, and good as new! So yeah, note to self, if only the trim works and nothing else, it is likely the starter fuse (assuming cabling is correct). Wiring wrong is a sure way to blow that fuse.

Once again, a huge thank you to those of you who pointed out the cables likely still weren't correct... That put me on the right path... I can't believe four people looked at it in person, including the guy who winterized her boat, and no one noticed that was a red cable in the sheeth...

Anyhow, you all helped make her one very happy person today...

Thank you..
 

poconojoe

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
1,966
Awesome!
Glad nothing but a fuse was damaged with the mis- wiring.
 

briangcc

Commander
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
2,385
Either zip tie the two large positives together to avoid the problem in the future OR trip to Harbor Freight for some colored shrink wrap - use red to identify it going forward.

Could use black on all the grounds too...

Quick visual for next year without referring to photos or memory.
 
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