no boat mechanics here?

**0rion** · 05-22-2009, 08:05 PM

I believe I've asked this before and no one really knew shit about boats but I find it hard to believe that out of all the guys on this board no one works on boats. We have doctors, gay guys from PA named nhrafirebird, and everything in between but no boat motor mechanics?

**86 IROC-Z** · 05-22-2009, 08:11 PM

Can't leave me out of your list, I'm a CEO. I make fun of people who wear button collars and snort blow off my desk.

Sorry I can't help, I hire people to work on my boats.

Just kidding, they're called "yachts" and the wind never breaks.

**0rion** · 05-22-2009, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by 86 IROC-Z

Can't leave me out of your list, I'm a CEO. I make fun of people who wear button collars and snort blow off my desk.

Sorry I can't help, I hire people to work on my boats.

Just kidding, they're called "yachts" and the wind never breaks.

thanks......your contribution to my thread has been noted. Isn't there some rust on something you could be scraping right now?

**JB454** · 05-22-2009, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by 0rion

I believe I've asked this before and no one really knew shit about boats but I find it hard to believe that out of all the guys on this board no one works on boats. We have doctors, gay guys from PA named nhrafirebird, and everything in between but no boat motor mechanics?

What are you wonderin about? John

**nitrox28** · 05-22-2009, 09:12 PM

PM sent

**310stanger** · 05-22-2009, 09:27 PM

well ask the question. engines are engines

**0rion** · 05-22-2009, 10:07 PM

I'm having a spark issue. A couple weeks ago I took the boat out and it ran great. The next time I go to start it...nothing. I check for spark and have none. I unplugged the "big red plug" as they call it which is supposed to rule out the harness and kill switch and bumped the starter solenoid direct to get it to turn over. Still no spark.
I started chasing wires and found that the kill switch wire (black/yellow stripe) doesn't go through the big red plug so unhooking the big red plug didn't bypass that part of the harness.
I go up and disconnect the kill switch altogether yesterday and BOOM....boat fires right up and goes to idle and idles perfect. I started it 4-5 times over the next hour or so testing it and it started and ran great. Problem fixed....I thought. I go out today to start it and no spark again. I had my 3 year old daughter working the key (start 'em young is my motto

) and 1 time while she was cranking it I saw 1 spark and that was it.
I then unhooked the black/yellow kill wire from the ignition switch altogether and still no spark but I did get the piss shocked out of me by a ground jumper I had running. What I didn't pay attention to was where my other hand was on the ignition. I'm not sure if I had a finger on a power wire and just completed the circuit or if I in fact had juice on my ground wire. I hooked my meter up to the ground and started probing it and the voltage was all over the place. It was jumping everywhere.
I know boats are different than cars in that they get ground straight from the battery instead of having a floating ground. Everything on the boat has to ground to the battery. 2 things I'm not sure of is how the current works in that situation and if my meter will correctly read it. From reading on the web I know for certain things you have to have a "Peak reading" volt meter which I'm not even sure what that is or why you need it.
What I really want to do is figure out how to disconnect the motor completely from the harness and run it that way straight off the battery to see if I get spark. That will at least tell me if I have a short in the harness or a short on the motor. I'm about tired of messing with this thing. I went from thinking I had it figured out back to square 1 in 12 hours. My gut tells me I almost have to have a short somewhere but I don't know where to start looking and how to rule out certain stuff. I do know that the black/yellow wire is the kill wire and when you pull the kill switch or turn the ignition off it shorts that to ground to shut the motor off. That black/yellow wire runs to a relay. I don't think I can just run to a parts store to get that relay. I also didn't see normal relay markings on it that tell you if it's normally open or closed or whatever.

**0rion** · 05-22-2009, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by 310stanger

well ask the question. engines are engines

not sure if you've ever messed with a boat engine but they're A LOT different than a car engine. I can stumble around a car engine pretty good but there's parts on a boat motor that I don't even know what their purpose is.

**310stanger** · 05-22-2009, 10:27 PM

test the relay. If that relay is sticking it wont open and close the way its supposed to and not complete the circuit.

**310stanger** · 05-22-2009, 10:28 PM

and it sounds stupid but make sure you have good connection at the battery itself.

**0rion** · 05-22-2009, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by 310stanger

test the relay. If that relay is sticking it wont open and close the way its supposed to and not complete the circuit.

how do I test that relay since there's no diagram showing which posts are which? I tapped on it a few times while Chloe was cranking it as I've done that before to free sticking relays but that didn't work.

Originally Posted by 310stanger

and it sounds stupid but make sure you have good connection at the battery itself.

yeah, that's all good.

**310stanger** · 05-22-2009, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by 0rion

how do I test that relay since there's no diagram showing which posts are which? I tapped on it a few times while Chloe was cranking it as I've done that before to free sticking relays but that didn't work.

yeah, that's all good.

the easiest way is to just swap it with a known good one lol i do that with cars all the time, the other way is to just keep powering the prongs till you get something. you'll hear it click, if nothing ever happens well shit thats a good start.

**310stanger** · 05-22-2009, 10:44 PM

another thing is check for breaks in the battery cable. there could be a break in the wire thats opening and closing somehow, just enough to power up the ignition coil

**iam_dale** · 05-23-2009, 04:20 AM

What motor is it? I'm just curious. Have you tried any boat forums? I sold mine last year, but I never had electrical problems out of mine...I just blew the damn thing up!! LOL. Give fastbass.com a try. There are a lot of really knowledgeable folks on there.

dale

**transamprincess98** · 05-23-2009, 04:26 AM

Actually Orion MOST boat engines are VERY similar to car engines being 90% are based on chevy blocks! BUT you have an outboard

You're Screwed!!!

**transamprincess98** · 05-23-2009, 04:27 AM

Originally Posted by iam_dale

What motor is it? I'm just curious. Have you tried any boat forums? I sold mine last year, but I never had electrical problems out of mine...I just blew the damn thing up!! LOL. Give fastbass.com a try. There are a lot of really knowledgeable folks on there.

dale

By the trouble he is experiencing I'm going to guess it's either an Evinrude outboard OR a Johnson!

**iam_dale** · 05-23-2009, 04:29 AM

Originally Posted by transamprincess98

By the trouble he is experiencing I'm going to guess it's either an Evinrude outboard OR a Johnson!

LOL...yep, CAN'T be Mother Merc!! Damn, I sure miss mine!!

**transamprincess98** · 05-23-2009, 04:31 AM

Originally Posted by iam_dale

LOL...yep, CAN'T be Mother Merc!! Damn, I sure miss mine!!

Nah a Merc would run just have a black nuclear smoke cloud

**iam_dale** · 05-23-2009, 04:32 AM

Originally Posted by transamprincess98

Nah a Merc would run just have a black nuclear smoke cloud

"But the motor is still cold...It'll stop once it warms up!!"

LMAO!!

***doberman 152*** · 05-23-2009, 04:48 AM

I'm not 100% on these ignition systems, but if I remember right, the parts under the flywheel are just magnetic pickups. Its usually the powerpack that goes.