Re-Wire

[Flying_Lavey]

So after about 2 or 3 years of killing a battery in only one day on the water, I finally got tired of it and decided I would re-wire the boat. The thought process was, I dont have a killer stereo, the motor at least produces enough juice to power itself, it has 2 damn near brand new batteries in it, there is no reason why it should kill one battery a day (granted no alternator since its an old school o/b but still).

So, here are a couple before pictures after I pulled all the interior

Transom area

And the sides..

 

[BadBlown572]

Dang. Get a pair of wire cutters and rip all of the old stuf out! Don't use one fitting or strand of wire!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Dang. Get a pair of wire cutters and rip all of the old stuf out! Don't use one fitting or strand of wire!

Thats pretty much what Im doing. I didnt get any after pics of after I got all the wire out. Lets just say... for there not being much stuff to wire in there.... I filled a kitchen size trash bag with all the wire I pulled out. lol!

(good thing is that the engine wiring is all in its own harness so I can re-use that and its already nice and neat.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Solder splices w/double heat shrink tube is the way to go if you need to splice. Those butt splices will only cause you grief down the road. Rubber grommeted clamps are also nice.

Looks like a nice little project to me. :sm-newbolt:

Oh yeah. NO MORE butt connectors. My cousin (partner with the boat) re-did it a few years ago to what you see here. And believe it or not, this is 15x better than the way it was before. All he had on there before were scotch locks. It was pathetic and nasty.

I do have a wiring question though for anybody that may be familiar with old style Merc outboard trim pumps.... I got 2 pairs of wires going from the trim pump to what appears to be 2 electromagnetic motors of some sort on the ends of the shaft that connects the trim ram to the mid-section of the motor. I have NO idea what these could be for and was look for some answers/theories if possible. I know they arent a trim sensor because you cannot wire an electronic trim sensor to these trim units.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Oh yeah. NO MORE butt connectors. My cousin (partner with the boat) re-did it a few years ago to what you see here. And believe it or not, this is 15x better than the way it was before. All he had on there before were scotch locks. It was pathetic and nasty.

I do have a wiring question though for anybody that may be familiar with old style Merc outboard trim pumps.... I got 2 pairs of wires going from the trim pump to what appears to be 2 electromagnetic motors of some sort on the ends of the shaft that connects the trim ram to the mid-section of the motor. I have NO idea what these could be for and was look for some answers/theories if possible. I know they arent a trim sensor because you cannot wire an electronic trim sensor to these trim units.

So, after much research, Im thinking that these may be trim limit sensors. One for the up limit, one for the down limit. What do you guys think? I couldnt get a pic last night since it was dark when I got home and didnt even touch the boat.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Could be it. If so, you would run them in series with their respective switch direction. The up limit in series with the up button etc. You can test this by checking to see if both limits are closed with the trim in the middle, then carefully run it up to see if the up limit opens. same for down.

That's exactly what I was planning on doing. You have no idea how excited I was when I figured that out. lol! That was the only thing that I wasnt sure about as far as the wiring. lol!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

So, I didnt get a chance to get any pics of my weekend progress but, I was able to test what I thought were trim limiters, not so. Well at least they dont test to be so. One of them was a complete open circuit so it was pretty much trash. The other one had varying resistance throughout its range and the resistance that I was reading was so much in fact that it wouldnt work in series with the switch. So, I can only guess that its a trim sensor maybe? Oh well. I wired it up without those and it works great.

I got about 80% of the wiring done, minus stereo wiring. Im going to have to glass in a new mounting location for my amp (used to be on the transom behind the battery. Right below the swim step so it would get dripped on. I already blew one amp that way. So Im thinking Im going to glass in some wood to the side of the hull next to the passenger seat. I think thats the best place to put it since I dont really have a compartment or under-seat area big enough to mount it in.

Ill get some pics tonight when I get home. I must say, Im impressed with myself. lol!

 

[Riverbound]

So Im thinking Im going to glass in some wood to the side of the hull next to the passenger seat. !

thats where mine are in the Stoker.:thumbsup

 

[RiverDave]

I see the before pics.. I want to see the during pics!

RD

 

[Flying_Lavey]

I see the before pics.. I want to see the during pics!

RD

Ill take some 80% Pics. How about that? lol! That and end pics are about as good as you are going to get! lol!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

thats where mine are in the Stoker.:thumbsup

Do you ever have any problems with them? My main concern is the boat bouncing too much and them stressing the hull and/or wood to hull joint.

 

[Riverbound]

Do you ever have any problems with them? My main concern is the boat bouncing too much and them stressing the hull and/or wood to hull joint.

nope. I have done hundreds of boats this way and have never had a problem, except its generally a bitch to get to if you have to tweak on them. or do any sort of work to them.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

nope. I have done hundreds of boats this way and have never had a problem, except its generally a bitch to get to if you have to tweak on them. or do any sort of work to them.

Ahh ok. Very good to know. Working on it isnt a problem. 2 bolts and the whole panel is removed so no biggie there.

Ahhh man all these projects to do to the boat!!!

-Finish the wiring
-Relocate the amp and run wires for the stereo
-Glass in mounts for the batteries (might be able to not have to do this with some trick re-arrangement)
-Re-glass in the foot throttle mount
-Re-glass where the dash meets the gunnel (large crack in the joint and that is really the only support the deck has)
-Get and install TBI's nosecone
-New fuel lines
-Go through Carbs
-New motor mounts

And detail the SOB!!



Ahh not too much huh?! Oh, and all of it done by myself. No money to pay for it to be done. Well, expect maybe install the nose cone. Not too sure if I trust myself with that.

:smackhead

 

[Flying_Lavey]

So, here are some "in the process" pics. Its about 90% done now. Just need to wire up the lights and clean up the cables and hoses in the bilge area.

And heres one of behind the dash. Again, an "in the process" pic. The twist ties are cause I got tired of the wires falling and didnt want to have to keep cutting zip ties. Also, the solenoid is there temporarily until I get the proper sized relays for the lights and fuel pump (dont want to run them through the key and only want them to run when the key is on).

Before i started wiring the gauges.

Miscellaneous back of stereo shot

Key and switch area

Wire everywhere!

Better than before at least!

Crap laying all over!

I hit another little delay in this project because the 2 courtesy lights under the dash pretty much just fell apart in my hands so i have to get 2 new ones for that. Once I get the lights wired in.... its done!

 

[Zaairman]

Getting there... I re-wired my boat at the beginning of last season. Every time I'd hit the choke button, the nav lights would kick on. :swear T-tap connectors everywhere.

Did you get your trim wires resolved? I have the same system on my Merc and can take pics if you need.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Getting there... I re-wired my boat at the beginning of last season. Every time I'd hit the choke button, the nav lights would kick on. :swear T-tap connectors everywhere.

Did you get your trim wires resolved? I have the same system on my Merc and can take pics if you need.

I got it pretty much figures out. Iput the multi-meter on those end caps and tested the resistance on both of them and one was a completelyopen circuit and the other had some funky resistance so I didn't connect them. I think the one is for a trim guage and the other might be the limiter but since it's broken I said fuck it. LOL!

And I know what you mean about those scotch locks. We had them all over the boat and trailer when we first bought it. Fucking shorts EVERYWHERE!! LOL!