2004 Crownline 4.3- No power to Key but power to accessories.

mkelly3

Recruit
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
5
Hello all,

I have a 2004 Crownline with a 4.3 mercrusier and thunderbolt V ignition, with 150 hours. Took her out yesterday for the first outing of the year and all was fine until it wasn't. While driving about 30mph, the boat lost all power to ignition and left me dead in the water. I've checked my 90amp fuse at the starter, all good, reset (wasn't tripped but figured why not) and checked my 50amp breaker, all fine, I've checked all my fuses under the dash and we're all good there too. I have power to all of these items as well when checked with a test light, I don't have a volt meter to measure voltage (broken, but will purchase another for testing). When I turn the key, the gauges don't activate, there's no warning alarm and nothing happens. Yet, I have power to my bilge, blower, horn, and even my trim works- radio doesn't work. Anyhow, I jumped my solenoid and my engine turns over and with the key switched to "on", I can hear the gauge cluster turn on. From research online, I've seen some post that there is a 15amp ignition fuse somwhere near the distributor. The trouble is, I can't see any place that there could be another fuse. Perhaps this isn't common among all 4.3's and may depend on the type of ignition system it has. Any help here would be very much appreciated, am I missing any fuses? What else should I check, thanks all for the help.
 

mkelly3

Recruit
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
5
I've tried flipping the switch there as well. No difference. Perhaps, I should dig in and look closer.
 

dubs283

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
5,343
you mentioned checking the 50 amp breaker, is there power on both sides?

ive seen them fail even though they aren't tripped

often there is a 20 amp ignition fuse at the panel
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,619
I would bypass the kill (man overboard) switch or at least check the voltage on each side of it with the key turned on.

Since you have power to the bilge and blower, that shows the 50A breaker is ok.
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
43,247
Don't know if Crownline has a breaker or a fuse
Look under the helm and follow the Red/Purple wire from the key switch to a breaker or inline fuse. Many cases its a 20 but can be a 15 amp
 

mkelly3

Recruit
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
5
okay, so days of looking turned up nothing. I thought I had searched every where for every fuse. And then, in order to get a better view point of my wires I found a 20 amp fuse hidden behind the plastic cup holder under my helm. Such an idiotic place to put a fuse, not hard to get to, but hard to see. Anyhow, replaced it and it popped instantly. I put a 30 amp in it just to see if I could feel any wires getting warm and helping me find the short. Now, the fuse didn't blow but I'm not getting power to the fuse any more. So the short is somewhere just need to find it. Any clues? The fuse popped only when turning the key to the "on" position. Not when cranking.
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
43,247
The 20 amp fuse feeds everything on the ignition side. Gauges, TBV, alternator, alarm, other

Anyone of the things could cause the issue
 

mkelly3

Recruit
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
5
Well, I'll give it another shot. It started raining so I had to come inside once it finally lost power to the fuse (verified with test light). Maybe I'll get lucky and it melted a wire a little bit more to become obvious. My guess is it must be back by the engine. Seems like I've looked everywhere though. I'll report back my findings when I find a solution so others can have something to look for if they run into a similar situation.
 

mkelly3

Recruit
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
5
Well that didn't take long. Found my issue, replaced my 30 amp fuse with the 20 and moved this wire, and now it doesn't blow anymore. This was off my alternator rubbing off the manifold. Can't believe I didn't notice it earlier.PXL_20210525_001847960.jpg
 

Scott06

Admiral
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
7,138
The purple is the ignition circut thats why the fuse was blowing and killing the engine
 
Top