1987 24' Bayliner Trophy low voltge at fuse panel

[treeeman00]

I have a 1987 Bayliner Trophy 24' boat. Last year I bought the boat and it needed the engine replaced. Everything worked. Starter engaged and all of the electronics worked. Well I changed the motor and now my electronics wont work. Bilge pumps, nav lights, blower, horn, wiper etc wont work. I have power to the ignition because the motor will turn over. I tested the voltage to the back of the fuse panel and I am only getting 1.56 volts. I checked the main harness and I have 12 volts. Battery is good and grounds are good. Checked all fuses and they are good. I am at my wits end trying to figure this out. Oh and my outdrive lift works fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1987 24' Bayliner Trophy low voltge at fuse panel

Bayliner used to put an inline fuse holder near the battery for power to the accessories (orange wire red stripe as I recall). Maybe that wire is not hooked to the battery any longer or it corroded, or the fuse is blown. Or maybe the ground isn't attached to the battery.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1987 24' Bayliner Trophy low voltge at fuse panel

I don't claim to know how your boat is wired but the vast majority of those I've seen or worked on have the fuse panel powered by a separate pair of wires running directly from the battery via a fuse or breaker as Don indicated. That circuit is totally separate from the engine harness. The engine harness has a +12 volt and ground lead in it but that circuit is not intended to power accessories but rather just the gauges. Check back at the battery area for a pair of wires (#8 or #10 gauge). Make sure they are connected to the battery if you find them and then check power at the fuse panel.

 

[treeeman00]

Re: 1987 24' Bayliner Trophy low voltge at fuse panel

well I found the problem. There was a broken wire that I didnt see. It was the big black wire that goes to the main wiring harness plug. Im assuming this is the ground. It was weird though. The wire didnt go anywhere because it was broke and when I unplugged the harness plug it had no volts going to it but when I plugged it in it became energized with 12 volts. Anyway I traced the ground wire all the way back to the fuse panel where it grounds and there was a jumper wire attached that was energizing it. So I grounded it where it was broke and everything works great now. Only took me 1 1/2 days to figure it out! Thanks for your help!