Chris Craft electrical issue

[Repostyle]

Hey, I have a wiring issue and I'm looking for a wiring diagram or definitions.

Here's my issue. I have a wire providing power to the grounding block near the battery. The wires (about 8 or 10 of them) are all black ground wires of the same gauge and dissapear into the body about 2 feet from the ground block. Each wire has a small tag on it with 1-2 letters and I need to find out what the letters mean to find the problem.

I just bought the boat about 4 months ago with a bad motor, it runs fine now and the trim works most of the time (I think it's the switch for that), the blower does not work but I don't know if it did before the motor change and I haven't tackled checking it for power yet, the bildge pump works flawlessly. And I either have a rediculasly large fuel tank and 15 gallons won't move the needle or the guage doesn't work, same with the temp, but when I was tuning the motor I had it on the hose and other than a couple of revs it was running at idle for about 15 minutes and don't know if that's enough to warm the engine to get a reading. I was able to put my hands right on any part of the motor/exhaust without burning myself but could feel some warmth.

So anyway, I'm looking for a diagram or book online that I can download. Any links or ideas?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Chris Craft electrical issue

You start your post by saying "I have a wire providing power to a grounding block!" No you don't! Ground wires go on a grounding block -- not power wires. If they did you have sparks (lots of them). Next, If this boat happens to have an I/O engine and the blower isn't working I hope you have your life insurance and will up to date. Fix that first.
When looking for something for a specific boat you should always start whomever built the thing. In this case Cris Craft. However, few manufacturers of recreational boats actually publish electrical diagrams because all they did was string the wire. Some outside firm usually builds the instrument panels and they are installed as a unit. If you do a search on this forum for "Fuel Gauge Problem" or words to that effect you will find well over 50 responses, most with diagrams of the fuel gauge circuit. At the top of this forum you will find a couple of generic boat wiring diagrams. Generic, because most boat wiring is very generic. Can't help you with the letters because you didn't post what they were. If you do that we could at least take a swag at it.

 

[Repostyle]

Re: Chris Craft electrical issue

You start your post by saying "I have a wire providing power to a grounding block!" No you don't!

Yes, I do. I have one ground wire, that when connected is actually providing power to the block. I found it by following the smoke and burnt smell as the wire melted it's insulation off. I disconnected the wire and other than the problems I mentioned, everything else seems to work fine. I pointed out the problems with the boat to see if maybe anyone could point me in the right direction to find the cause of my reverse polarity problem.

But mostly I'm looking for a link to any repair manuals that could help me diagnose the problem.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Chris Craft electrical issue

If that wire is "powering" the ground block and you smelled smoke -- I rest my case. As I said, good luck with the manual or a diagram other than what I already mentioned.

If everything is now working you no longer have a reversed polarity problem. Hooking a hot wire to a ground stud is simply incorrect wiring. At this point, we still don't know what power plant you have. There are two electrical systems on most recreational boats. The large gauge red and black battery cables that run from the battery to the engine constitutes part of the "engine system". From the engine, power goes up the engine harness to the helm. That system generally powers only the instruments because that system is not designed to carry the current requirements of a bunch of accessories. The second system or "boat system" consists of a pair of #8 or #10 wires that run directly from the battery to the fuse panel at the helm. From the fuse panel, the various switches feed the other accessories.