Need help with boat gages

[mav6759]

I need some help with my boat gages. I never had the gages hooked up in the 10 years. Until yesterday,when I ran out gas (for the 5th time), but that another story.. Ok Here is my situation. I have the following gages Tilt/trim, Gas, Tech, Temp, and MPH gage. The Gas and Temp gages with MPH light are all jumped to the Tilt/trim gage. The Tech has it own three wires, (Not connected Purple, Gray and Black). I found the two lead wires from theTilt/trim gage that powers the Gas gage, the temp gage,the light for the MPH gage. My question is where do these two lead wires (Positive and negitive connect as far as the motor is concerned. I try connecting them right to the battery and all the gages went crazy including the Tech gage moveed alittle which should not happen because i don't have it connected. In my thinking, I would think they would connect somewhere in the control box. That way when I trun on the switch, the gages would work. (BUT) I was also told that the tech somehow had to be connected to the control box. This is an OMC control box the newer style without the big Red Plug.. So how do I connect the gages to the control box and still have room for the tech.
thanks Mav6759

 

[Don S]

Re: Need help with boat gages

What motor and year are we talking about?

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

I have a 1998 Evinrude 90 hp

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Ok I think all the gages are wired through the Tech wires. The only problem I have is finding which wire goes where. The wires coming out if the control box is as follows; 1. Red, 2.Yellow with red strip, 3.Purple, 4.Black with yellow strip, 5. Black with white Strip, 6. Purple with white strip. That plugs into a harness which has the same color pattern. My question is where to the Purple, Gray and black wire go for the tech.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

I took some pictures, I will try to upload as soon as i can. But I noticed that there is more then one harness that can go with this motor. I took pictures of both.

 

[jhebert]

Re: Need help with boat gages

This may help:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/ignitionSwitch.html

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Nothing gets wired "through" the Tach. Gauge wiring starts at the "A" (accessory) terminal on the ignition switch. That is the +12 volt feed for all gagues. You connect that to the first gauge in the string. That terminal then jumps to the + terminal on the next and then next etc. That is called daisy chaining. Ground is ground wherever you find it. The first gauge in the string has its ground terminal connected to ground. That first ground terminal connects to the second gauge in the string, then the third etc. That too is daisy chaining. The internal light terminal on each gauge gets wired in the same exact fashion (daisy chained) but the system is fed by the NAV/ANC switch. The tach, trim, fuel and temp gauges all have an "S" (sender) terminal. That terminal on each gauge gets connected to the applicable sending unit (the trim sender on the engine, the tach feed on the engine, the fuel sender at the tank, etc). Gauge wiring is shown in detail in the stickies at the top of this forum (not this page). Go to the top of the Electrical forum.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Thanks for the reply, but I think I'm going to have to rewire all the gages. I think that would be the simplest thing to do. Many question is (It would seem that I can't run each gage individually), I would have to put them on one of the gages. Would it be best to power all the gage through the tach and then connect the tach to the controls, The reason I say that is because once I hit the switch it would power everything. or if someone has a better way.

 

[M9.9]

Re: Need help with boat gages

When you get it all sorted out and begin re-wiring, suggest, if you plan on running stereo/radios, you might consider running all ground wires to the same ground point and keep all ground wires at the same length, ie the longest ground lead length used for each and all grounds. This will help reduce unwanted speaker noise.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

I completely understand daisy chaining. but what I don't understand is what gages I can included. If I understand you correctly, I can connect the fuel gage, the MPH gage, temp gage, and the tilt/trim gage in a daisy chain and the tech has to be wired by itself. If i'm looking at the wiring correctly, everything was daisy chain through the Tech gage and the tach gage connected to the the controls. So when the switch is in the on position it controls everything. Is that about right.
MAv6759

 

[Don S]

Re: Need help with boat gages

You can daisy chain power (purple wire) and ground (black wire) and lights (blue wire normally) for the instruments, but not the sender wires, the speedometer only has a light as it's a mechanical gauge and works on water pressure.

Tech gage and the tach gage connected to the the controls.

Ok, what's a tech gauge, I know a tach is a tachometer, but what is a tech gauge?

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Ok, so if I understand you correctly, once everything is connected, (daisy chained) it's going to leave two wires, one is connected to sender wire in the controls and the other is connected power wire in the control.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

I guess I need to find all the wires that on the S of each gage and the A of each gage and connect them to the right wires. I should have mentioned all of the gages are already daisy chained. I'm going to have to fined where they connect to the controls, because I only have 6 wires coming out of the controls.

 

[Don S]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Again,

Ok, what's a tech gauge, I know a tach is a tachometer, but what is a tech gauge?

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Ok. I got you I ment Tach for tachometer. I found the wire that cut on the lights for the gages and I put it the switch wire, but the lights come on but they won't go out by the switch. I thought everything was wired through the trim/tilt. I only have 6 wires, and acording the diagram, I should have more wires coming out of the controls.

 

[Don S]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Go to this link http://boatinfo.no/lib/evinrude/manuals/1992-2001johnsonevinrude.html#/304
Page 4-119 shows a harness you MUST have. I/m not an Evinrude/Johnson outboard tech, but you just don't have enough wires coming out of the control box to operate all your gauges. If you turn the page in the link above you will see the control I think you have. There are no wiring diagrams in that aftermarket manual that shows the instruments, or tells you which wire goes to what.
But I would bet if you hook that harness up, things will work.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Here are the wires that I have coming out of my control box, that plugs into the engine harness.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need help with boat gages

We are explaining but you are not following! You have no idea if the current wiring is original or not (and it likely is not) nor is it likely anywhere near correct. The power to the gauges, ground to the gauges, and the light circuit have nothing to do with the engine harness. Go back, read my post and go to the "stickies" I told to view and look at the "Generic Boat Wiring Diagram". None of the gauges get wired from the trim sended except the "S" terminal on the trim gauge. Once again, power starts at the ignition switch and goes from one gauge to the next. Ground works the same and the light circuit works the same. If you don't know where the stickies are: Go here and study the gauge portion of the diagram: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=186986

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

No I'm following you as far as the connections to each gages. (That part I got) Where I'm lost is where you hook everything up after all that is done. I was told that I may not have the correct set of controls, because I may not have enough wires to connect the gages, i don;t know, I will try to send more pictures of the controls tomorrow. But as for right now I have Two plugs coming from the controls, one is square that has 6 wires and the other is a triangle with 3 wires. I know that the triangle plug, plugs into my trim/tilt, and the square plug is my main wiring harness. But that is all the wires that I have. Now, I was told that the lead wires from, (once all the gages are connected) go to the control box along with the wires from the tach. I just don;t know where to connected these wires to the controls. By the why, I have a set of OMC controls and all I have is 6 wires from the main wiring harness that comes from the control.

 

[mav6759]

Re: Need help with boat gages

Good Morning all, Ok, I checked all my gages last night and all are daisy chained to the tilt/trim gage. I didn't touch anything under the dash except for tracing each wire from each gage. The Fuel gage, Temp gage, MPH gage light, and the Tilt/trim are all daisy chained together. This is the way I got the boat, I made no changes thus far. Now, there are 2 wires that come out of the tilt/trim that a followed to the rear of the boat, these are the only 2 wire that leave the tilt and trim and run to the back of the boat. I have a one Black wire and the other wire is white with a brown strip. My issue is, I don't know where these to wires need to be connected. I tried connecting them right to the battery, which just made the gages go crazy. I found the violet accessory wire and the black ground in the controls and tried to connect them there, again made the gages go crazy. So I'm thinking again,(which is always dangerous for me and here is my question) since the 2 wire are coming off the tilt/trim, my question is do these 2 wire have to be connect to the tilt/trim switch.