When I turned the key to the on position for the first time this season, I noticed that the gauges did not move, ie showing no voltage. I turned to start and the motor cranked fine. After a few tries I noticed upon letting the switch go from start to on that the voltmeter and other gauges jumped but then went back to zero. Finally I got voltage when turning the key on and the motor started up and ran for about 10 seconds and died and all the gauges dropped. After I tried it about 20 times the motor started and ran fine. Total time running was about 10 to 15 minutes and I shut it off a few times and restarted and it was ok. I did notice this problem last year and once while going at no wake speed the engine died and the voltmeter went to zero. After a few tries the engine started and all was fine. I thought this was the ignition switch so I just replaced it prior to starting this year and as I described it did the same thing. The boat has a 7.4L Merc/Bravo I with the Thunderbolt IV ignition. It is almost like there is a master circuit breaker or switch that is causing this to happen. Any help will be appreciated. I'll be offline for a while but will check back later today...thanks.
