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Main dash fuse

J

jmgrant

New member
Hi all. I have an 89 Islander with a 4.3 omc. Was running across the lake and it died. Main dash fuse was popped out. Reset it and throttled up and popped again. It idles great just faults when accelerating. You can hear the engine sputter before the fuse pops. Waited an hour and it ran fine back to port. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting? I haven't found any bare wires.
 
What is the load in the circuit and what is the rating for the fuse? Multimeter is your friend. Not expensive, worth owning.

One way you can think about it is that a fuse may fault by overheating. Just like when you are running one of your circuits at home near max load and it pops, and then pops again 10-15 minutes later. The circuit in this scenario does not fault immediately, and instead faults after running near max load and "heating up".

Can you post a pic of the fuse?

Has anything been added to the electrical system? Speakers, CB Radio, lighting, GPS/ navigation, LiveWell pumps? Also, what was drawing on the electrical system when the issue occurred? Sometimes previous owners add something and they don't wire it properly. Drawing from the wrong location in circuit and without protections for the system can create issues down the line, or put you at or near circuit load limit.

BTW, you are probably aware of this but it is worth mentioning. The Idle is supposed to drop and the engine is supposed to "burble" a little when you shift out of neutral to forward or reverse. This is by design and was done to reduce wear on the dog clutch. Dropping the RPM as the dog clutch engages with the drive gears increases smoothness and ease of shifting while reducing wear and damage to the dog clutch. I just mention this so that you aren't confusing the momentary drop in RPM for the shifting mechanism to be related to an electrical issue.
jmgrant said:
idles great just faults when accelerating.
Click to expand...
When you say Idle, do you mean it stalls going from neutral to drive? Or does it die when trying to increase speed from a walk to a trot? Is the issue any different if you increase your throttle at a lower rate?

I also have Starcraft Islander 221V just one year older. I am also currently running the 4.3 Cobra. What part of the world are you in?
 
I havent checked the load but everything was off when the button popped out. I fired it back up in neutral and it was idling fine, gave it some throttle and it popped again in neutral. Ive looked for and found zero bare/grounded wires. Eventually if fired and held and back to port we went. Kinda spooky when you're 6 miles out!
 
jmgrant said:
... when the button popped out...
Click to expand...
So, you have a circuit breaker and not a fuse....?

Usually, dash panel breakers are installed by the rigger when the boat was built...as stated previously, it could have been 'added'. First you have to determine the rating of the breaker and then, as suggested, measure the current running thru the breaker.

If it was original equipment (~ 35years old) it wouldn't surprise me if the breaker has reached the end of its service life...it could also be a simple as one of its connections has corroded...
 
Its an e-t-a 1658 breaker. The amperage was on a sticker that is long gone. It has what appears to be a #10 and #14 on the line side and (2) #14 wires on the load size. Im assuming a 30 amp will do but just need reassuring
 
any idea what the loads are? Measuring it would go a long way to ultimate success....

you could always try a fuse as a temporary substitute for the breaker first...if you only have a 5 amp load and you try to protect it with a 30 amp breaker, you likely won't get the desired results...
 
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