HELP nothing working on my boat

[255bayliner]

I have an 87 255 Bayliner that is having some problems. A couple weeks ago someone messed with it and took the shore power out and when I got to the boat the batteries were dead. I got them charged and everything was fine for a week. I went out Saturday and it started right up went out to the raft off switched the battery over to just one so incase it went dead I could switch it over and go but that was not the case. We tried jumping it that didnt work, we tried taking someone elses battery and hooking it up and it still didnt start. I ended up taking a screw driver and arch the starter and it started right up. Got all the way back to the well and it died out(so glad they batteries waited to die at that point when i got home. So I put the shore power on to charge up the batteries and came out the next day and nothing is working, and all of the fuses are fine. The lights dont go on, the boat wont start, the only thing that works is the tilt and when I look on the MinKota charger it says the batteries are charged. I have no idea what it could be, I thought if the shore power was hooked up the lights would still work and i understand that on Bayliners everything is ran through the batteries so if anyone could give me any ideas that would be great. Thank you for your time on this long thread.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

Sounds like a circuit breaker has been tripped.

Look for something near your charging unit or possibly near your batteries that looks like this:

It will have a red reset button on it, it might not be the exact same size or anything but it sounds like its been tripped or a fuse is blown... If multiple things aren't working, starter/lights it sounds more like a circuit breaker.

how about your radio? depth finder? horn? windlass?

The starter is wired directly to the batteries, and engaged once 12 volts is applied to the solenoid... If you aren't getting power to the solenoid then you might be able to locate the circuit breaker / source of your problem by following the wiring back from the starter solenoid.

 

[255bayliner]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

Thank you I did not really look for anything like that i will have to check that out. Yes like you were saying nothing works, the radio, depth, lights, i checked everything and the last thing I checked was the tilt and that worked then the battery charger lights were on green for charged. I will go look for that switch tonight I hope thats it.

 

[cp]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

The fact that you were able to start the engine by connecting 12v directly to the starter indicates the starter solenoid has failed or is not getting 12v from your ignition switch, IMHO. Use a multimeter to verify that 12v is present across the solenoid terminals when you turn the ignition switch to "start" position.

As for the subsequent inability to power anything up, that certainly is a symptom pointing to a tripped main circuit breaker as Pond Tunes has suggested, but without knowing how your boat is wired up, could it be that in all the excitement of the motor not starting on either battery that you may have left the battery switch set to only the starting battery and hence are charging just that one battery while the house battery that runs everything else is dead? It's most likely a tripped breaker, but just don't want to overlook the obvious.

Good luck.

 

[255bayliner]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

Thank you for the replys. I went out yesterday to go look at the boat and I could not find a breaker anywhere. It is an 87 but in 05 it was wired up for electronic egnition. I saw a couple solenoids but no breaker. I also noticed that if i hit the fridge it will turn on so the tilt, trim tabs, and fridge work and I am getting the light coming on the panel down stairs that I have power. After getting the boat back to the well I did make sure that the battery switch was on both batteries when I put the shore power on and it does show on the charger that they are both charged. I guess I am going to have to break down and have someone look at it because if it was anything else but electrical I would be able to fix it but when it comes to this I am lost. Thank you again for all of your help.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

I looked around on google searching for 88 bayliner circuit breaker and found apparently a manual covering sterndrives of that year.
It states:

"On all sterndrive models the engine and accessory circuits are
protected by a large circuit breaker located on the engine. In addition,
US Marine Power tilt motors are protected by an external
(manual reset) fuse as well as an internal breaker (which resets
automatically about 3-5 minutes after overload). Ignition circuits are
protected by a fuse located on the back of the instrument panel
(found in an in-line fuse holder either at the ignition switch or in the
main fuse block.)"

the pdf can be found here:
http://watershome.com/2556/88-OwnersManual/Pages-10-23.pdf

 

[bruceb58]

Re: HELP nothing working on my boat

Look for a fusible link in the power cable that comes up from the starter solenoid(not the cable that goes to the battery).