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1996 454XL No Power (electrical)

3

390Express

Regular Contributor
I have power to the 50a circuit breaker on top of the motor, power to the starter, and I can control the starter at the helm. (no key, the boat has a start button and an "ignition off" button) I also have 12v power to the 10a top ECU breaker, mounted on the motor, but I have no power to the two 10a breakers mounted on the engine for the fuel pump and TBI/ECU. There is a relay that provides power to these breakers through a purple "trigger" or control wire. The relay has 12v battery power through the red, but no power from the trigger when the "port ignition" circuit breaker in the cabin is turned on. Starboard motor works fine.

I traced my electrical issue to the 9 pin male connector. (the side of the connector that comes from the helm back to the motor) I have absolutely no power from the helm back to the 9 pin connector. (no power to the fat #2 "battery" post, no power to the coil, no power to the starter pin) The engine alarms are not receiving power as well.


I bypassed the "engine off" button, and ran the fat red wire from the ignition circuit breaker right to the purple wires that first go to the gauges, then go to the 9 pin. I have 12v at the fat red wire, and have 12v at each of the three purple wires, but still nothing at the 9 pin.

Any ideas about what I should do next?

Boat is a 1996 Trojan 390 Express, made by Carver, to the extent that it matters.


 
Best I understand it, the power comes to the helm VIA the cabin circuit breaker, goes to the "ignition off button", where it meets with the purple wires that go to the gauges, and is jumped over to the "ignition/start" button. The yellow red wire from the Ignition/start button goes to the starter. I haven't been able to locate the "engine alarm" that you generally hear when power is initially switched on. Apparently power can be lost from the helm to the motor, via the gauges, but all gauges check fine for voltage and continuity. Grounds are all fine as well.

Any ideas as to how to properly wire or trace the power to the 9 pin male connector, even if I have to buy a new wiring harness and re-wire it?
 
crusader%20plugs%20inst%20to%20engine.jpg
 
The helm end of most engine-to-helm harnesses are usually bare wires (no connector). These will either go to a connector block or tie into the gauges &switch(es) in helm....the 'birdsnest' description indicates the helm was exposed to a hack or two in its life. It would be worth the effort to eliminate the 'birdsnest' aspects.
 
post 3, left pic is what I have found in most boats and you will find the Red pin corroded under the corner of the dash
 
makomark said:
The helm end of most engine-to-helm harnesses are usually bare wires (no connector). These will either go to a connector block or tie into the gauges &switch(es) in helm....the 'birdsnest' description indicates the helm was exposed to a hack or two in its life. It would be worth the effort to eliminate the 'birdsnest' aspects.
Click to expand...

The birds nest I was referring to is just a pile of moderately organized wires, it’s definitely factory, but I can’t tell where anything goes, and there certainly isn’t any “block” that feeds the 9 pin.

Below is a pic of the Ignition Off button, where everything runs through. The switch has a jumper wire that carries power over to the Ignition Start button, the yellow wire with a red stripe from the Ignition On button goes straight to the stater solenoid. Those purple wires carry power to everything else that the motor needs from the helm to run, but I can't tell where they go from here. They disappear into that pile of wires and wire wraps.
 

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From what I can see, the bulk of the wires in the pic appear to have ID tags on them.....so I'm not sure you realize what you have.

As far as the YEL/RED wire going from the start switch to the solenoid, that clearly indicates somebody has modified the factory (Crusader) wiring configuration.....which means what's standard may not apply to what you have....
 
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