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Electrical issue with 1986 Mariner 150HP Magnum

M

Murky

New member
Last weekend my power trim and electric start went totally dead. The engine had started and ran fine earlier in the day, I had noticed that the power trim solenoid just clicked on the initial try and then started working. Both the ignition switch and the power trim switch went dead at the same time.

The engine is in very good shape low hours fresh water only.

I changed the battery (which was charged), still no crank, choke or power trim.

I've printed a schematic and plan to tear into things tomorrow with my multi meter and a wire to short the solenoids.

I touched the positive jumper to the starter and it turned so the ground seems to be good.

I ruined the 24 amp fuse when I removed it from the holder, but: it didn't look to be blown.

I will get after things with my meter tomorrow.

Any ideas from the forum would be appreciated.

This is the only V6 I've owned, (so I'm new to this type of power trim et al), I hope can find the trim solenoids.

I run old school inline sixes on my other boats.
 
While bad grounds are a strong possibility don't forget the power side could be an issue also. Since they are high draw items I would start with the positive battery cable connector, like any electrical connection it can look fine and still not pass electricty.
 
Swagonmaster said:
While bad grounds are a strong possibility don't forget the power side could be an issue also. Since they are high draw items I would start with the positive battery cable connector, like any electrical connection it can look fine and still not pass electricty.
Click to expand...

Thanks Swagonmaster, without tearing anything apart the positive and negative cables and connectors on both sides looked very good, (no visible corrosion) and were tight to the battery. I will let you folks know what I find after I tear into things today. It is a 34 year old engine with zero visible corrosion I just hope I don't have to tear things too far apart.
 
Hi again. I tried to sign up under this screen name, (which I used for years), but never got the email so I had to use "Murky", (a nicname I got on another forum), to get going here.

There actually was more corrosion then I thought initially on the 34 year old engine, I cleaned both the grounds and the power side, (I think the problem(s) were on the power side). After cleaning all contacts I found a second fuse, (not on the schematic I had), that seemed to be the problem as it was blown. Once the second fuse was replaced the power trim worked and I was able to trace the power circuits.

Still no crank, and I'm pretty sure the starter solenoid is bad as the ground was good and the ignition got power to the unit when the key was turned on. If I can find 89-96054T today I will replace and hopefully hit the lake and let the forum know.

Thanks for the help.

Not sure why both the fuse and the solenoid would fail at the same time, but maybe the corroded contacts (which were certianly part of the problem) caused the fuse to blow after the solenoid laid down.
 
Glad it's fixed and thank you for letting us know how it turned out. As you saw, poor connections can look just fine and still be lousy (I say that mostly for the folks that read this later).
 
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