Weak tell tale after electric work

Bwallis362

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Joined
Sep 21, 2024
Messages
12
I recently had to splice in a new 8 pin wiring harness from the remote key switch line to my 1985 mercury 35 hp el motor because I had a bad connection and it melted the old wiring. I spliced each of the 8 wires separately with heat shrink solder connectors and then bound them all together with heat shrink electrical rubber. Took the boat out today and it cranked fine and seemed to be working as expected, but unfortunately, now the water coming out of the tell tale is barely a small trickle. I just recently changed the water pump and performed a cooling system flush and before the electrical issues, the water was coming out good from the tell tale. The very small trickle coming out never got hot even after running the motor a short distance and the motor ran fine during that time. Is the problem likely due to a poor connection with one of the wires I spliced? If so, any idea which color wires would likely affect this? (I would rather not have to take all 8 wires back apart and reconnect if I don’t have to.) thanks for any help!
 

Bwallis362

Cadet
Joined
Sep 21, 2024
Messages
12
I usually keep string trimmer line on boat in case tell tale is clogged but couldn’t find it on water so tried pushing in 40# fishing line (thickest I had on boat). May not have been enough to clear a potential clog. Pushed string trimmer line in once home but unable to test at the time but will update once I can. Thanks
 

mike_i

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Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
942
I can't see how the wiring work would affect the water flow. You fixed one problem and have a totally separate problem now.
 

Bwallis362

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Joined
Sep 21, 2024
Messages
12
Im not knowledgeable of what each of those electrical lines control and although I didnt think so, i wasn’t completely sure if the water flow was affected anywhere by the electrical system once the motor was running. Especially since the water was pumping good before. But sounds like the consensus is that although I may have fixed the electrical issue, I now have a separate problem on my hands. Thanks for the help! I would’ve been tempted to take another look at my splicing jobs otherwise so will save me that headache
 

mike_i

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Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
942
You went from an electrical problem to a mechanical/physical problem.
 
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