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A few things I've found wrong with the new boat....

USAFaggie

USAFaggie

Member
Well, I knew this would happen no matter how good of shape the boat is in, but I'm starting to find little things wrong with it. Nothing major so far knock on wood, but annoying things I would like to fix ASAP.

Ok first my fuel gauge doesn't work nor does my speedometer. All of the other guages work fine, and the backlight light up on them. The tach and fuel guage backlights don't light up at all. When I turn the key on, the fuel guage needle jiggles ever so slightly like it might be getting power, but its still pegged all the way to the left. There is a bit of a birds nest of wiring behind the dash, and I'm not quite sure what the heck the previous oweneres were doing. There looks like there is some kind of added in fuse that is dead, maybe that is the cause. I duno why they would have added another fuse though. Are there any wiring diagrams for our boats available? As for the speedometer, I'm totally clueless.

The other problem I've found is that the engine trim very very slowly leaks down. I don't know if that is a major problem, or if it is just because it is old, but it kinda pisses me off. I don't see any fluid leaking, it just settles.

I'm sure I will find more things wrong, but I guess that is just the way things go with used boats. I really want to get my hands dirty with this boat and want to start to learn how to do engine and lower unit work since this isn't a daily driver and I can afford the time to actually work on a boat :) I also want to get better at electrical work, because I totally suck at it. Please steer me in the right direction! Thanks! Let the money spending begin!
 
Your best investment will be a FACTORY service manual for your outboard. The aftermarket ones suck. It will even show you gauge wiring. As far as your speedo goes, Take the hose off at the speedo and try to blow back through it. If you can't it is plugged or the hose is kinked. If you can, see if someone can tell where the air is comming out while blowing. If you don't have an external pickup, it is in the front of the gearcase casting.

Hopefully your trim leaking down is just a nicked o-ring on the manual release valve.

Be careful, you can hurt yourself and or damage your boat/motor if you don't understand what you are doing.

Good luck.
 
Yeah I know I've worked on trucks before, but never a boat. I've never dropped a truck on myself so hopefully I wont drop an outboard on me lol. Where do you get the manuals from?
 
Cool, I will order one asap. I guess I can try to replace that extra fuse that they have wired in there. I just dont want to start tearing stuff up without a plan or a diagram of where everything is SUPPOSED to be. There are wires everywhere. I removed an added in cigarette lights that the guy had just spliced in by stripping off the coating of an original wire and wrapping the cigarette lighter wire around that wire and taping it. Not clean or reliable at all. Also, I'm thinking maybe the switch or original fuse holder is corroded. BTW, just to clear things up, on my dash, the switch labeled fuel is for turning on the fuel gauge right?
 
well it sounds like your going to have fun!! Fuel gauge may just be a bad sender. they do fail regularly but are a cheap and usually quick fix. Merc has all their manuals on .pdf on their dealer site. a nice dealer may download and burn it to cd for you (perhaps if you promise to buy your parts from them) - you know the old i'll scratch your back ...

sometimes the easist thing to do with birds nest wiring is cut it all out and start from scratch.

the backlights are easy to fix, they all have little lightbulbs in them - pop out and replace.

the trim you'll want to fix - but it could get expensive.
 
Ha what couldn't get expensive on these things right? I guess I need to make a prioritized list and just go down it lol. I only probably have a few more weekends that I could run it out here this year, so if it make sit untill then I will be happy. THen I have all winter to fix it up realy nice (and more money too lol). The first hting I want to fix it that darn fuel gauge and wiring bords nest. I'm also going to rip out the old speakers that are in it. They are crap and there is no radio in it anyways. They are just contributing to the mess.
 
sorry to hear of all the quirks, but yes that does come with a older boat, and you have the right attitude, use the winter months for the fixing and learning!

just make damn sure you have it going by next season, nothing can make a man sicker than a sunny summer day with a broke down boat in the garage!

:)

i would check the ground on the fuel sender before replacing it! its a quick check and it might fix the dilemna!

my fuel guage did the same exact thing last fall! the ground wire was corroded and loose! changed it out and it fixed the problem!

now about 2 months ago it did the same thing again, its pegged all the way to the left, but the ground is good, so now im looking to replace the sender this winter! its cheap and easy! just make sure you measure the depth of the tank and or take the old one in for a exact match up!

as far as the wiring goes im unfamiliar with that, i wrode in and drove the boat several times but never had a need to peak under the dash, the bulbs are a easy fix just pop them out and match them up at a dealer! there pretty small and fragile! i would also check the bulbs in the navigation lights also before heading to the store!


so hows it run? do you like it?

heath
 
Hey Heath, I'll check all that. I love it so far and it ran great on Sunday morning. It looks like it will be a great boat. I expect to find little things wrong, and I don't mind that at all. I just hope I don't run into any major problems. That would be a buzzkill.
 
Oh your having fun now. Along with the engine service manual pick up a good multimeter. Makes troubleshooting electrical problem so much easer. The fuel sender would be a good one. My old one had 2 wires and the new one has the same. One running to the gage the other to ground. The sender it self is just a rheostat. Once it is removed you can use the meter to see if the resistance changes when you move the float up and down. This is a quick way to see if its the gage or the sender. Once thing you need on a boat is a good ground. Everything has to lead back to the negative side of the batt. What I have done it run a ground wire up to the dash and install a terminal board. Then run all your grounds to it. Have fun and keep us posted.
 
Ok tell me if this makes sense guys. I have a purple wire that runs from the switch to the fuse. There is another purple wire that runs from teh switch to the + terminal on the gauge. There is a red wire that runs to the fuse as well. There is a red wire that runs to the S terminal on the gauge, and a black wire to the ground terminal. A pink wire (signal wire) runs from the gauge to the fuel sender. The pink wire is connected to the fuel sender via a screw terminal. There is also what I am assuming a ground terminal on the sender that has a green wire and a black wire attached to it. THe green goes up to the fuel filler and the black goes into a harness. The tank itself also has a black wire attached to a terminal. Is that the right connection setup? If so, then it looks like the sender is bad. WHen I flip the fuel gauge on switch, it moves ever so slightly still to the left, like its getting power but a zero signal. Can you get senders at an auto parts store?

Oh BTW, I fixed the nav lights. All they needed was a fuse. The fuse for the lights isn't in a fue block on a panel, but just wired in. All the lights work now except the anchor light. Maybe the bulb is bad. I've pretty much figured out the wiring mess behind the dash. Once I got a wire color code key, but the wiring by the battery is a nightmare. It all freakin red and black wires and then a colored wire loom. I have no idea what the hell is going on with all that, and if its not stock, it will be hard to figure it out. I really want the fuel gauge to work though!
 
i've seen all sorts of neat stuff when playing with wires. one boat was wired all in white (positve, negative, senders) - try finding a wiring fault with that. My favorite was a boat with a dual battery system with 3 black and 1 red wire at the batteries - one of the blacks was positive - found that out after i melted the battery terminal - chalk that up to lesson learned!

your sender set up sounds right - you need the grounding wire from the fuel filler neck to the tank to prevent static electricity build up and the BOOM that could go along with it. not sure about the purple wire though.
 
Howdy guys and gals. It was definately the fuel sender, confirmed by the multimeter and the Mk. 1 Eyeball. The spring wire on the rheostat was busted. I picked up a universal sender that fits and it reads A-OK on the multimeter. Now the question is whether or not it is compatible with my old gauge. It came with a new one, so if it fits I will just put it in there. Next thing to tackle is the Anchor light. That just might need a new bulb though. It's coming along!
 
Fuel guage is fixed! And the anchor light pole terminal is getting juice, but the pole must be messed up because the light terminal is not. That as easy fix: get another light pole. Thanks ya'll!
 
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