Short in Yamaha Control Wires

[FishinFreaks]

So I got my "new to me" motor over the winter from a dealer over in Trego, Wisconsin. I knew I was taking a bit of a risk, if something wasn't right come spring time. Well, I finally got the boat our last week. Gauges didn't work most of the time. Every now and then, they'd blip on momentarily, then they're off again. I'm thinking grounding issue.

So I went home and made sure everything was good and tight. Made sure the wires directly from the boat were the first wires on the battery terminals. I went back to the lake today. Same issues.

So after playing around, I noticed that when I lowered my motor all the way, the gauges went out. Then when I raised the motor handle, the gauges would come on and stay on. Handle up, gauges on. Handle down, gauges off. I repeated that pattern a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining it.

So then, I reached down and started gently tugging on wires down by the ignition switch, and sure enough I could make the gauges go on and off by jiggling a couple wires. I've got it narrowed down to a couple wires that run from the ignition switch into the motor.

First question - what do I do?

Second question - what do I ask for from this dealer who sold me a properly functioning motor? They're 2 1/2 hours away.

[That Minnesota guy]

Bad news is the dealers are busy now. I would call Skeeter Boat Center get a quote to repair the problem. Then call your dealer and give him the option of meeting you half way, both to pick up the boat and return it after the repair. Or he can have SBC take care of it. I don't know if it's a 2 hour repair or a 5 hour repair.

Good luck, I hope you get it running correctly soon.

[FishinFreaks]

Good idea, Brian. I'll give SBC a call. Daggummed boats.

[That Minnesota guy]

Be sure to describe it the best you can. Also ask if any real damage can be done by continuing to run it. My guess is you won't get SBC or your dealer to fix it before opener. If you can't hurt it run it until they have time to repair it.

[FishinFreaks]

Good question. Ugg. I'm less concerned about MN opener. I'm headed to Sabaskong Bay for Ontario opener the following weekend.

[That Minnesota guy]

The important thing is to send a email and then a phone call to your dealer A.S.A.P.

[REW]

Simple.
You have located the problem.
Repair the bad wiring and get on with your life.

Be safe

[Consigliere]

Sounds like a problem with wire length or something? Wiring is easy to fix, just splice longer wires on and secure them to the ignition terminals.

[REW]

I believe that you have a broken wire in the wing that runs through the handle of your motor.

i.e. when the handle is one way, the motor works.
When the motor is another way, the motor does not work.

I expect that you will need to look over the wires very carefully that run through the handle of the engine to find the defective wire.

Be safe

[REW]

Fishin,
What year, brand and model motor do you have?

What boat do you have this motor mounted on?

Be safe