Rats nest wiring fix!

[Slickman204]

I’m rewiring the console of my boat from scratch. My question is the brown wire coming from the harness from the engine is I do believe the feed for the ignition when key is on. My other worry is there is a white ground wire that is also in the harness from the engine but when I tried to trace back to the engine I couldn’t find where it is coming from. I do think it is a ground but my ignition switch doesn’t have a lug for a ground it’s just a 3 pole 12+ ign and solenoid. The gauges are all original and I think I can figure that out I just don’t want to smoke the wiring or what little electronics this boat has on it. Oh and it’s a 1970 slickcraft ss204 with mercruiser 165 i6 and the r or 1 outdrive.

 

[Scott Danforth]

wiring colors are standard [h=2]American Boat and Yacht Council Standards[/h]

Black	Ground	Negative / Neutral Main Return
Blue-Stripe	Tilt up and or trim out	Tilt and or trim circuits
Brown	Alternator Charge Light	Generator Terminal or Alternator Auxiliary Terminal to Regulator
Generator Armature	Generator Armature to Regulator
Pumps	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Pumps
Brown w/Yellow	Bilge Blowers	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Blower
Dark Blue	Cabin & Instrument	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Lights
Green or Green w/Yellow Stripe	Bonding System	Grounding Wires (if insulated)
Green Stripe	Tilt down and/or trim in	Tilt and or trim circuits
Grey	Navigation Lights	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Lights
Tachometer	Tachometer Sender to Gauge
Lt. Blue	Oil Pressure	Oil Pressure Sender to Gauge
Orange	Accessory Feed	Ammeter to Alternator or Generator
Common Feed	Distribution Panel to Accessory Switch
Feed	Accessory Circuit Breakers or Switches
Pink	Fuel Gauge	Fuel Gauge Sender to Gauge
Purple	Ignition	Ignition Switch to Coil & Electrical Instrument
Instrument Feed	Distribution Panel Electrical Instruments
Red	Instrument Feed	Distribution Panel to Electrical Instruments
Power Feeds	Positive Main Power (particularly un-fused)
Tan	Water temperature	Water temperature sender to gauge
Yellow	Generator Field	Generator to Regulator Field Terminal
Ground	Negative / Neutral Main Return
Yellow w/Red	Starting Circuit	Starting Switch to Solenoid

COLOR ITEM USE

 

[alldodge]

Being an inline 6 you might have wiring before the standard. Here is a link to the wiring diagram. Your white wire should go to pin 5 which is hot

https://web.statler.wvu.edu/~mathews...20Diagrams.pdf