2002 Yamaha F115 no power to key switch, need help with wiring harness

[wingman1022]

Unfortunately I can't post pictures yet since I just made an account, so please bear with me and when I can post a picture I will. If anyone can point me towards a wiring diagram for this motor I would greatly appreciate it and I think that would help me out. Anyways, here's my issue. The past two fishing trips my boat has stranded me. Cranks fine at the house, cranks at the ramp, and the first couple of times that we move around the river. But at some point it decides to stop cranking. When it stops, absolutely nothing happens when you turn the key. No clicks of any kind, from anywhere. Power to the tach, tilt/trim on the throttle, and the gas gauge is also gone when the key switch goes. Tilt/trim on the motor continues to work. Both times, after about an hour you can turn the key and it cranks right up. This lead me to believe there is a loose wire or corrosion or something on a wire or wires that join the key switch to the tach, gas gauge and tilt/trim. I have been poking around under the console, and there is definitely some sketchy wiring under there but I couldn't find anything that would kill power to all those things at once. Went back to the engine, unhooked the main wiring harness, and there is a connector pin that is burnt to a crisp. Has a red wire coming into it from the motor, and seems to be the only hot wire when I turn the key. I assume this means I have a short somewhere down the line between the harness and the console/key switch, but I don't know how to test that or find it. Could this be from the wiring between the key switch and tach or gas gauge, or would that be stopped by the key switch and not be able to affect the engine wiring harness? Also, I lose track of the wires as they go back into the engine so I'm not sure where that red wire ends up on that side. Sorry for the rambling post and I appreciate any help you guys can give me. And as soon as I'm able I will post some pictures to hopefully clarify what I'm talking about.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Welcome.
Always include the year/ model and serial# when asking questions.
The burned connector might?? be part of the problem.
There are fuses on most outboards.
​Find a parts diagram(until you get a manual) and check the electrical parts.
​I found one with at least 2 fuses.

​The Yams I worked on only had one hot lead for the motor.
​There might be a lead from the harness to the dash that is fused and the fuse panel might have a lead that is shorting????
I've seen that on some boats.

​Get a can of WD and start unhooking and spraying all inline connectors.
​The plugin connectors used by Yam and Mercury suck.
​The ones turning black need to be removed and a permanent connection made.