Need dashboard electrical help!

[trobinson017]

I have a '99 Seaswirl Striper CC with a Johnson 130 Oceanpro. One by one over the past 3 years the gauges have stopped working except for two; the battery voltage meter and the speedometer. The thing is, the gauges are daisy chained with the voltage gauge at the end of the chain, then Tach, Speedo, Tilt indicator then gas gauge at the beginning of the chain. The voltage meter shows correct info. The Tach dial doesn't move at all but the system lights along the bottom of it do light up when I turn the key on (No Oil, Not, CHK ENG, Low Oil). The Speedo works fine. The Tilt indicator jumps to the 12:00 position when the key is turned on and stays there until the key is turned off. The gas gauge doesn't do anything (not so concerned about this as I top off the tank regularly).

I"m pretty clueless about electrical systems, particularly if it's not a straight wire from battery to gauge. My batteries stay charged so I believe the rectifier is okay. I don't care about the gas or tilt gauges which is why I've not sought help before. But the tach is important to me because even if the system lights test okay I want to be sure the alarms will also work okay, which all resides in the tach (to my knowledge).

So if anyone can give me expert help I'd greatly appreciate it. I have a volt/ohm meter and can use it in a very basic way (i.e. check battery voltage).

TIA!!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

There is a generic boat wiring diagram as a "sticky" at the very top of this forum. Your engine idiot lights are not part of the console electrical system -- they are part of the engine electrical system. Your gauges are missing either +12 volts or ground or both. I seriously doubt all gauges gave up at the same time so it is a wiring issue. As for the tach, it also is probably lacking either +12 volts or ground. If that part of the system is good, then the sender signal is missing. That comes through the engine harness.

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

Thanks Silvertip. I did see the sticky's but, like I said, i'm clueless about electrical. My boat's wiring isn't easy to follow. I just dont' understand how it's run from batteries to battery switch to dashboard, et al. Some wires seem to go straight thru, others seem to have wire colors that they begin with but there's no colors like that at the dash. All that, and a touch of A.D.D. , makes it hard for me to resolve these issues. I get confused and just give up and live with non-functioning gauges. But I'd like to get beyond that.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

The gauges are not powered through the battery switch (or at least they shouldn't be). They are powered through the engine electrical harness that runs from the engine to the control box. The gauges get powered when the key is turned to the RUN position. If you have no clue about electrical, then there isn't much we can tell you that will help. But electricity is like water running through a pipe. A switch becomes a valve. The battery is the bucket of water. Water flows out of the bucket on the hot line, goes through a valve (switch) then the device, then back to the bucket on the black (ground) line. You mentioned the gauges were daisy chained. Since you figured out that term, you should be able to follow current flow with a test light. When you lose it, you found the problem.

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

Ah, plumbing terms! Now that I do understand. Your explanation helps me better understand how all this wiring works. I'm still not sure how to test anything properly. Like I said I do have a volt/ohm meter but only know how to test the battery voltage with it. I have some decent electrical websites I can peruse to learn more about testing the entire chain.

Thanks!!!

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

The gauges are not powered through the battery switch (or at least they shouldn't be). They are powered through the engine electrical harness that runs from the engine to the control box. The gauges get powered when the key is turned to the RUN position. If you have no clue about electrical, then there isn't much we can tell you that will help. But electricity is like water running through a pipe. A switch becomes a valve. The battery is the bucket of water. Water flows out of the bucket on the hot line, goes through a valve (switch) then the device, then back to the bucket on the black (ground) line. You mentioned the gauges were daisy chained. Since you figured out that term, you should be able to follow current flow with a test light. When you lose it, you found the problem.

Silvertip,

I don't know if you can answer this but attached is a picture of what I think is the engine electrical harness on my Johnson 130. If it is, what should I do to test if there's a problem that would affect my gauges?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

You are at the wrong end of the system. There is a large cable that runs from the engine to the control box at the helm. The ignition switch is at the end of that harness. The terminals on that switch have the letters "A" (accessory), "B" (battery +), "c" (choke/primer), "M" (2 of them - magneto), and "S" (starter solenoid). Turn the key to RUN (not START). Gauges are powered from hte "A" terminal. There is no use checking that terminal because some of the gauges actually work so you know you have power that far. So -- set your meter to read DC volts (20 volt scale). Now touch the red lead to the +12 volt (probably labeled "I" on the gauge that doesn't work. Touch the other lead (black) to the ground terminal on a gauge THAT DOES WORK. If you do not have 12 volts, move to the next gauge closer to the source of 12 volts (the "A" terminal) until you find it again. The problem is then in the connections between the two points. Very likely just a loose or corroded connection. If you have 12 volts in this test, the problem is likely in the ground connection to the non-functional gauges. If the +12 volt and ground connections are ok, then the senders for the non-functioning gauges are suspect, or the wiring to them is.

 

[flargin]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

one thing you may want to do is find the kid down the street with the really loud car stereo, and ask him if he could help you. Those guys normally do a lot of the work themselves and they know plenty.


Lots faster than reading web pages...

 

[trobinson017]

Re: Need dashboard electrical help!

Silvertip, I checked all the gauges and of the three that don't work they all showed 12v. By process of elimination: the fuel gauge is acceptable (I'm sure the sending unit is corroded), the tilt/trim I don't really care about, but the tach, that I do care about as it's a Faria System Check tack. I'm mostly afraid that I won't get an alarm for overheating, low oil, etc. But I also just learned that that is a different animal than the other guages as it ties directly into the rectifier. So I have some troubleshooting tips in an engine manual I have. I followed all the steps for testing without rectifier connected, and then without the VRO connected. According to the test if there is any voltage at all on the gauge gray wire and ground then it says to replace either the engine wire harness or the instrument harness.

Now, with that said, the tach idiot lights do light up when the key is first turned on. The go off one by one in sequence. There is no more "beep" tho, which it used to do up until about 6 mos. ago. I can just hear clicking coming from the starboard side of the console, underneath. Not sure what is supposed to be making the sound. It looks like the horn is the only sound producing device under there. So, it seems to me the "system check" feature may still work, but there's no audible "beep" and no RPMs displayed. So, I guess I should change the subject to "Faria System Check tach not working right".

Any ideas on this?

Thanks very much for all of your assistance!!