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Crossed battery terminals

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Lhower925

New member
My husband was putting the battery back in our boat after charging it and accidentally touched the negative wire to the positive terminal. *There was a loud pop and now nothing works (blower, horn, ignition alarm, and gauges all do not work),however, the trim is still functioning properly.

The engine is a 2007 Mercruiser 5.0, that's all I know.*

I tested the voltage of the wire running from the battery that connects to the trim motor and it read 11.66 volts which was the same as the battery. *Then I tested the voltage of the wire that runs from the battery that connects to the starter fuse and I didn't get anything, .003 volts.*

I tested the 50 amp breaker on the top of the engine based on something I found in a other online forum and it read 1.2 OHM (which was the same reading I got when I touched the two probes on the meter together). *Does this mean the breaker popped? My husband said he pushed the reset button and nothing happened. *I probably should have pushed it again to make sure but I took his word for it and I'm assuming he pushed it in all the way.

Im not sure how the starter and circuit breaker are related, or if one affects the other but I thought that if the problem was the starter fuse that there still should have been a reading of 11.66 volts (like on the trim motor) going into the starter from the battery cable, and nothing coming out the other end, but now I'm confused since there was no power coming from that wire at all???

I also checked the ignition fuse out thats located behind the dash and it looked fine.

I don't know where else to check or what else to do. *I'm not a mechanic by any means so I don't even know if I'm looking in the right places, so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.*
 
*Then I tested the voltage of the wire that runs from the battery that connects to the starter fuse and I didn't get anything, .003 volts.*
Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... The starter fuse is Blown...
 
at least you know how to use a meter....a lot of the people dont....i dont have a wiring diagram on the engine so dont know exactly when the starter fuse will reflect the battery voltage.....it may be that you have to have the key turned to the start position...the voltmeter should reflect battery voltage with the key turned to the on position....that may be the way to troubleshoot it if you draw a blank on the starter fuse....start from the meter not working...and you may have a inline fuse on a wire connected to the battery..also look for a inline fuse in the wiring around the motor itself...
 
Bondo is correct.

On the starter where the battery cable attaches is a small cube with a wire attached. This is a fuse. You have to remove the battery cable from the starter to remove this fuse. Once removed from the starter you can remove the wire from the other end of the fuse.

You must replace the fuse with one of the same color.
 
Yeah I wondered about whether or not I needed to turn the key to On before checking the starter, so I'll give that a shot today. I'll also check for an inline fuse running along the battery wire.

How common are the starter fuses? Is that something I can pick up from a boat shop or would I need to order it online?

Thank you all for the ideas, I'll let you know how I make out.
 
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