jtexas
Fleet Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2003
- Messages
- 8,646
My dad (86 yo today) was in town, yesterday we were getting the boat ready to go out after a couple months in storage (the boat, not Dad). Put on the muffs, turn the key...nothing. The iboats trouble-shooting FAQ leads us to a faulty kill switch in about 5 minutes (Thanks iboats!). So, we turn off the water, disconnect the negative battery leads (safety first, unless you forget), take the kill switch out of the circuit, turn the water back on, turn the key...still nothing! Wail, gnash teeth, utter a few choice words - have you noticed what I forgot? That's right, hook the battery back up, DOH!, then, is that the sound of a 25 year old outboard running like she was brand new? You bet it is! Old man suitably impressed, as are the wife & kids & neighbor who stopped by to kibbutz & otherwise ridicule the poor soul (me) who decided to become a boat owner.<br /><br />Now the kill switch passes the continuity test, so must have been a wiring fault. Reinstall the kill switch, motor starts right up! Pull the lanyard and...still running like new. <br /><br />Looking on the bright side, motor runs, kill switch isn't exactly mission-critical...but wait, DOH! I only reconnected the motor lead to the battery; the kill switch ground wire is on one of the 4 other leads! Hook it up right and, It Works! Now everybody thinks I fixed two separate problems, the starter and the kill switch! I'm a hero! This can be our little secret, right?<br /><br />thanks!<br />jtw
