hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

[oops!]

hi all.

im selling my little bayliner.

lake tested it the other day, it ran perfectly.

dropped it in the water this morning. started great...i reved it up....and dropped it to an idle. went to untie the ropes. and it died.

i tryed to restart it. and it caught only once in a 10 second crank, and did not start.

i checked the carb, (just rebuilt) it was looking good, lots of squirt.

i cranked it again for 15 seconds and i could swear i saw light smoke coming from the harness area. the harness was hot. really hot.
i have unwrapped it and see no burnt or bare wires.

it is a breaker point ignition, and the points and condenser were replaced about 15 hours ago.

as im trying to sell this boat im glad it broke down on me in stead of on a lake test

but now im searching for answers....any guesses?

 

[oops!]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

bump

 

[oops!]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

bump

 

[Alpheus]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

Start here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRnZNrBOw0

 

[timfives]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

i had a similar issue with my 3.0 the main wire from the battery to the starter got so hot it started to melt.

It had a corroded connection at the starter, i replaced all the batter wires, cleaned the terminals, and the heat problem went away.

Basically somewhere in your boat you have a high resistance connection causing the heat. Check and clean your connection points for the harness.

T

 

[oops!]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

thanks tim.....i just painted the engine 5 hours ago. i thought it was fine.....but i guess not

 

[Bondo]

Re: hot wiring harness, no start. 3l merc

Ayuh,... Resistence causes Heat in wiring,...

I'd start with recheckin' the points for the startin' issue...

Wish I had more ideas, but that's it for now... Good luck oops...