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Blows Fuses

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sea_bear

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"I have a Carver 32 with two C

"I have a Carver 32 with two Crusader engines 350/454 . The starboard one does not like me. we were out running just fine at full 3000 RPM when got hot and it quit. I was about to ease it back to cool it down. We found it had blowen the ignition fuse. With 15 amp fuses it did the same thing each time we treid to start it. With a 30 amp fuse it started and ran fine. We shut it off and when we tried to start it again, it blew that fuse. A mechanic is suggesting we replace the starter because he says it draws more hot. Is that reasonable? Why would a blown ignition fuse cause the engine to stop running? I tried to post this earlier but I don't know where it went. Thanks."
 
"The starter draws more ampera

"The starter draws more amperage when hot, but those fuses do not involve the starter. There is no fuse for the starter. Don't spend any money until you find the problem.

If the fuse is in the ignition circuit, it would certainly shut down the motor when it blows, there is no longer power to the ignition circuit.

Unfortunately you have not provided enough information about your engines for me to be any more help.

Are they FI or carb., are the fuel pumps mechanical or electric?"
 
"Thanks for your comments. I w

"Thanks for your comments. I was not sure how much space I had as this is my first post. The engines are the original 1987 units. carb. Mech fuel pump and the like. Two belts for alternator and water pumps. It has about 800 hours on it. We started the engines easily with the 30 amp fuses, the 15 amp blew even at cold, and ran the engine up to temp of 175 and it held there. It ran smooth. We reved it up to 2500 with no problem. (At the dock). We turned it off after powering it back to idle. We ran it for about 15 min at that time. When we tried to restart it, just see if we could, it blew the 30 amp fuse. I have traced the wires as best I could and see no obvious signs of wear or short. I should mention that the solinoid did click once when I first truned on the ignition and then caught just fine on the second try. The engine overheated two years ago and we did a lot of work including replacing borderline parts in the cooling system . It was fully tuned over the winter by a professional mechanic. As I said it runs fine once we get it going. The first time this happened the engine had been running for about 3 hrs at low rpm as we were not in a hurry to get anywhere. We ran it up to 3000 to plane. The engine got hot so we were bringing it back down to let it cool. It had done that before but I identified that the pump belt was worn and a little loose. I replaced that and as I said it ran at 175 all the time we had it on.When it came down to 1200 it blew the fuse. We limped home on the other engine and have been wrestling with this ever since. As a personal note, my wife loves this boat and I would like to get it working so we can enjoy it again. Thanks for your help. Don"
 
"Seeing you've got twin en

"Seeing you've got twin engines, this is a great help when troubleshooting. I suggest you start measuring and recording resistances. Take each component at a time--the coil, the ignition module, the (if you have one) ballast resistor, and etc--and measure their resistance. Isolate each item as you go so you don't trick yourself, then compare the results for the good and bad engines. The source of the high amperage might jump out at you.

If it doesn't---and this could be the case if something is shorting underway--then I suggest you swap parts port and starboard--one item at a time--until you find the culprit. Put the 15 amp fuse in so you'll spot it right away.

Good luck!

Jeff"
 
Thank you so much. It will mak

Thank you so much. It will make for an interesting weekend. I will let you know what happens. Don
 
"You are not going to believe

"You are not going to believe this one. Someone in the past had removed the ballast resisters, I think, and left the wire tied up that went to the solinoid. It worked free of where they tied it up and was swining and shorted out. That problem is fixed but now there is another. I am reading the same challenge of not running that others have had. Hopefully I will resolve it. Thanks to you all for your help. Don"
 
"Yikes! We who actually fix t

"Yikes! We who actually fix things are constantly redoing the "repair efforts" of unqualified "mechanics" who screw things up and create such mysteries.

I hope you replaced both ballast resistors and made sure the wiring is solid? I'm afraid there are more surprises awaiting your attention, however.

Jeff"
 
we were blowing fuses and it w

we were blowing fuses and it was the cutoff switch on the transmission that was shorting out-geno
 
..."We actually put in a c

..."We actually put in a coil that did not require the resisters. Is that okay?"

Yes. I hope the old resistor was jumpered out nice and neatly so it won't... Of course you did! Sorry.

Jeff
 
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