Got stranded on lake yesterday with family... PLEASE HELP...

[shannick]

I have a 1986 bayliner with a Force 125 outboard. Yesterday I had the family out. Boat started fine the first time. We went and sat in a cove and got stranded. Boat wouldnt start. I noticed a black wire that is hooked to the ignition..it is hot(positive). the other end of the wire is loose. I have no idea where it hooked to on the other end. I ended up touching it to the positive going into my car lighter. That allowed me to start the boat. I know that is not right, but it got me off the lake. Speedometer stopped working also and depthfinder is acting crazy now too. I dont know if it is all related but it all started at the same time. the boat was fine the day before.... PLEASE HELP. Thank you

 

[SwampThing]

Re: Got stranded on lake yesterday with family... PLEASE HELP...

Need a little more info here. Black wires are usually ground wires. How do you know it's "hot"? Connecting a positive to a positive isn't going to do much. I'm thinking somehow you back grounded it when you did this. Piggy backed it into a another systems ground circuitry. This would explain the other electronics going crazy if this black wire was providing the ground for those devices also.

Where is this wire? Ignition? The switch? Need more info on this wire's location. If you're talking under the dash panel, there's two buss bars that most of the wires for the dash connect to. One is positive and the other is negative. It's really a crappy set up though. Check if you can see a terminal with no connection where the wire may have come loose from. This is actually a common issue on this set up. I'm still thinking this is a ground wire. Just because it may arc when you touch it to something doesn't mean it's a positive wire. That could be caused by your accessories being on while your making the connection. You can do the same thing with the negative battery cable. Just means you're connecting / completing the circuit.

Check the wire for voltage with a meter to make sure.

 

[88BLiner]

Re: Got stranded on lake yesterday with family... PLEASE HELP...

I agree with swampthing. Black is a negitive so by toutching it to a positive wire, ou hotwired your boat. So, check everything after your battery. For example your ignition, fuses.