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No power at ignition at all, power everywhere else

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hankmudd

New member
Hi everyone. This is my first time posting so thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to read it.

I am late to the party getting out on the water this year as I just finished a floor/upholster refurbishment that dragged on far too long. Installed 2 new batteries and went to fire it up, nothing at all happened when I turned the key, as if there’s no power at all. Confusing part to me is every single other electrical component on the boat seems to be operating as normal, such as radio, bilge, live wells, horn, blower, etc.

I am scratching my head, however I am also novice at best when it comes to electrical. Thus far I believe I have determined the following:

-The kill switch is in the “on” position.
-The boat is in neutral
-I do not see any fuse behind the ignition despite the manual diagram indicating there is one there.
-the 50 circuit breaker on top of the engine is not tripped
-there appears to be continuity through the 90a starter fuse as well as power both entering and exiting the fuse.
-examination of the engine does not yield any connections that are obviously bad, (however I do need to clean some up as i unknowingly had a ton of moisture on board over the winter, hence the upholstery refurbishment)
-test light indicates there is no power entering the ignition. I show power entering the blower switch right beside it, but not the ignition. (I’m just not oozing with confidence due to my novice at best electrical knowledge)

Engine specs:
2004 5.0 MPI Mercruiser serial # 0M666020. It is in a crestliner wirh 2 batteries and a battery switch.

If anyone has any suggestions of what to look for next I would be very, very appreciative. I have already squandered more than half the summer on the finishing work and really hope to get to the bottom of this soon.

P.S. I have scoured the internet for this problem and have not found anything precisely like it. However my internet skills may be worse than my electrical skills. If I am creating a duplicate thread I apologize and will very happily redirect to an existing one if more appropriate.
 
Thanks for the reply sab. Unfortunately there is no fuse to be seen under the dash. In general, there doesn’t seem to be a fuse panel anywhere on this boat and the only inline fuses I’ve been able to locate are on after market additions such as bilge pumps or down riggers.
 
check for +12VDC at the B (BAT) terminal of the ignition switch. It will be the larger gauge RED (or RED/PUR) wire going to the switch.

If no voltage at the ignition switch, then trace that wire back to the harness and see if you can find the 'missing' fuse.

If you are certain there is no fuse, undo the clamp at the main harness connector to the engine and separate the two halves...the 'ton of moisture" may have corroded the connection...clean it up and give it a shot of WD-40, reseat the halves, and try again..

If that's not it, try rocking the shifter handle with the key at START...the neutral safety switch could have been a victim of the moisture as well...
 
Thanks for the reply makomark! I will do each of those when I get home from work today and report back.

As for the neutral safety switch…is there a way to test it’s functionality in addition to rocking it with the key at start?
 
yes...in neutral you should have continuity from the YEL/RED wire at the ignition switch back to the slave solenoid... there should be two sleeved nut/bolt connections on that wire where it goes thru the control box...
 
Good morning. To update this situation, I seem to have found the issue.

I traced the ignition wire back to a circuit breaker. I foolishly didn’t look into this close enough the previous day as the breaker was not tripped, so I assumed it wasn’t an issue. But upon removing a faceplate and gaining access to the rear of the circuit it appears there was a faulty connection to it. I re clamped them on and it fired up right away. I discovered some notable corrosion on all of the circuit breakers once I inspected the concealed parts. I figure I will simply replace them all to be safe as they seem fairly inexpensive.

Thanks again for the guidance and advice makomark! Very much appreciated.
 
If your 'faulty connection' was due to an open (not finished with heat shrink tubing) then expect to find more as time goes on...especially given the 'moisture issues'...
 
If you do replace some breakers and clean all the connectors before installing,
Go to a auto parts store and get some liquid electrical tape (in a can with apllicator) and after securing wire to breaker (most likely a ring terminal) coat it with the liquid elec tape. This will keep it good for many years.

Pro's who do wiring for salt water boats use this all the time.

It dries and gets semi hard and works very well.
 
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