Help, my guages are nuts

[Robertpel9]

Long story, please bear with me as i need your help

There has only been 1 problem with the 1995 Chris Craft Concept 18 i bought a few weeks ago and that was that the stereoonly worked out of one speaker and you had to push in on the faceplate to get it to do that. I noticed that at top speed water would splash onto my leg under the dash and it felt like it was coming out of the stereo, so stupid me thought it was waterlogged.

Tonight I decided to figure out what was really going on and i wish i never did. Good news is that i found where the water was coming from and i fixed it. It was coming from the tube connected to the back of the speedometer and by attaching it as far up the nipple as it would go everything was sealed and no more water. However in doing that (and i got nothing else wet or loose I am sure of it) but in doing that now most of the other guages are F'ed/ Here is the deal

Before the oil pressure guage worked perfectly, now it reads the same as before when in neutral and idling but under load it pegs out at the max level and stays there

Before the horn button worked fine and the horn blew hard. Now no horn noise and when you push the button it makes all of the lower guages peg out (oil temp, coolant temp, gas, voltage)

Before the voltage gauge would sit right at 14 where it should. Now it jitter around at 11 or 12 and is erratic

Before the trim guage worked perfect and the boat would trim out right about 40% up the scale. Now when the lower unit is all the way down the trim guage is laying on the bottom dead and when i know i have the engine trimmed out for top speed (I can tell by performance and sound and feel) it is only 1/4 way up

Before i had just filled the gas tank tonight at the marina and when it was full (before all of these problems) it looked ont he guage to be about 7/8th full. Now it is pegged full. Maybe this is ok, i dont know as this is the first time i have filled her up but who knows

I am really distraught over all of this. I went thru every guage on the bottom of the dash tonight, they are all dry, all have tight connections, all wiring harnesses look and feel new and tight. I do not know what to do

Please advise, i do not want to get taken to the cleaners for repairs as i am sure something stupid has happened that must be a simple fix, it is not like one guage went bad. The whole things i acting nuts and as you can see from the above all in different ways, some dont work (horn), some are erratic)Voltage), some are wrong (trim) etc

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gcboat]

Re: Help, my guages are nuts

Easy does it - this is no time to go into panic mode 1. What you have is simply a water induced short. Some where along the line things did get wet, whether you know it or not. Put it into simple logic - all was fine before
( getting sprayed ) and now all hell has broke loose.
Take apart your sending wires and clean them all really good. Some fine emery cloth works great. Get a small brass wire brush about the size of a toothbrush and really clean the terminal posts. Before installing apply some
dielectric grease to the posts.
Also look really good under your dash for a buss bar - or fuse block. That may have also been contaminated with water. Do the same with it. So what you are basically doing is removing all of your electrical connections, cleaning and replacing.
There are several products on the market that you could possibly just spray on but I think you're better off removing all and cleaning.
Buy a plastic wire tie for that pitot tube so it doesn't fall off again and soak everything. Just guessing you're in a salt water environment?????

 

[Windykid]

Re: Help, my guages are nuts

Look for a main ground lug or wires, clean and tighten.