no power to gauges

[SOONERMANIC]

Help!!! I just had a 115 hp Johnson put in my Stratos 1994 284FS and I nave no power to most of my gauges. My tach, battery meter and Flasher work, Nothing else does. Bilge pump, areators, fish finder don't work either.Found broken hot wire to fish finder and now it works. Any Ideas would help.

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: no power to gauges

check to see if you have a pair of small wires one black one red hooked to your battery. The red should have a fuse or breaker near the hot post. That is where the power to the dash comes from that runs the stuff that is not working. The fish finder might be on the engine harness. If it is not then your problem is under that dash.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: no power to gauges

Gauges are not powered via the pair of wires from the battery. They get power from the "A" terminal on the ignition switch which is why they become active when the key is on. The ignition switch gets power from the engine harness via the large battery cables going to the engine. If the tach works, then the problem with the rest of the gauges is gauge wiring. If accessories don't work, then they are not getting power via the fuse panel which is what the smaller 10 gauge red and black wires feed. The fuse at the battery is not the issue because the bilge pump and aerator work so the fuse panel is being powered. Look for bad gauge wiring.

 

[SOONERMANIC]

Re: no power to gauges

Ok guys I checked again and I have power to my POWER switch on dash BUT still nothing works! When you say gauge wiring do you mean I need to replace the wiring or is something interuping the circuit? By the way the Bilge pump and aerators Don't work. Thanks again for your help

 

[Silvertip]

Re: no power to gauges

NO! You don't need to rip out wiring. Isn't it easier to fix what is already there?? Gauge wiring means just that. Check the wiring to each gauge. You said the tach works. Therefore all the other gauges get the same power and ground that the tach does so ensure each gauge has +12 volts and ground. "Looking" is not an option here. You need a test light or a voltmeter. If each gauge has +12 volts and ground with the key on, then you need to check the "S" terminal for the fuel gauge which is fed by the pink wire from the fuel sender. If you have a voltmeter, all it needs is +12 volts and ground as all its doing is measuring electical system voltage. The speedometer works by water & air pressure so all it needs is +12 volts and ground for the internal light. There are switches at the helm for the bilge pump and aerator. Check for power into and out of those switches. If not present on the input side of the switch, back up to the fuse panel or in-line fuse. If the fish finder is powered from the fuse panel then all of the accessory problems (except the gauges) are between the fuse panel and the accessory. A generic wiring diagram is provided in the stickies at the top of this page. If you do a search on "fuel gauge wiring" you will find over 50 posts on how to trouble shoot that system along with a diagram.