console wiring

[rob910]

id like to change some gauges on my console and make the wires look a little more organized. how complicated is disconnecting everything and reconeccting it all again? or should i just bring it to a shop to get it done?

[gman 82 aquasport]

Depends on your level of adventure Have you ever done any DC wiring before?..If you are just disconnecting gauges and reconnecting new ones, you should be Ok , I would mark all the wires you can with where it starts and ends and routing..take pics of it before you move anything...get a book on boat wiring....look at any of seabobs post of wiring..really depends on your level of comfort in your abilities....but if you do re-wire it, use only good waterproof connectors and only use marine wire( don't use all one color, makes tracing a wire a real headache)..have a good multi tester with you to check power and such and take your time...draw it out and figure how you want it to look and post pics, guys on here will take you in the right direction...but you might want to post it in the electronics & engines forum

[rob910]

Thanks that was really helpfull!  ive never done wiring before but all my wires seem good besides my fuel gage one needs to be replaced. so as of now it will just be disconnecting and reconnecting.

[Capt. Bob]

besides my fuel gage one needs to be replaced. [quote/]

Why?
Is your fuel gauge a negative function?
If so, it could be the tank sender.  This is a very common problem.

[rob910]

not sure, its not giving me any reading at all.

[Capt. Bob]

Check this forum and you'll find a thread on sender install. I can't seem to link to it but "Daniel" started it relating to same problem you seem to have.

Good luck.

[Georgie]

Rob,

There are only about 4 common things to look at if your gauge isn't reading:

1) gauge is bad (easily verified and/or solved by installing a known operative gauge)
2) power to sender in fuel tank is no good (somewhere between the console gauge and the fuel tank the pink wire is interrupted or shorted)
3) the sender in the tank itself is bad (need to remove the sender from the tank and test the rheostat with a volmeter to be sure)
4) bad ground (either the black or green wire leaving the sender needs to ultimately ground back at the negative post on the battery. (generally the black; the green is a secondary ground that, at the very least, should run to your fuel fill fitting.


One of these four items is likely your problem.

[wingtime]

The easiest way to test it is ground the sender wire on the tank and see if the guages pegs.

[rob910]

Thanks for the replies!! ill let you know how it goes!!!

[daniel123]

Daniel here, and we are in the midst of replacing the entire fuel system in my Osprey due to the 1999 115 bogging down and sucking the primer bulb flat at RPMs over 2300. One hang-up to the project is the fuel gauge, which when hooked to the brand new WEMA float still shows full when the key is on. We grounded it and then even removed the sender and slid the float up and down to test it and the gauge just stays pegged on full on the dash -- which is as-new and an exact AS Osprey replacement from the salvage place in FL and installed last fall. This week we plan to pull that "new" dash panel off to get at the fuel gauge and see if it was wired right when I had the "new" gauges/dash panel put in last autumn. Nothing else the local shop did was done right, so I'm figuring to find problems. UPDATE: Just heard from my electrician buddy working on the gauge/sender and he said everything is wired right, the gauge works and we are pulling the new WEMA sender this afternoon to see if it got fried somehow since installed last fall or wasn't working when purchased new in the first place.

We used a 12 foot hose kit and inline filter/water separator from Moeller for the fuel system upgrade. Neither the original tank uptake fitting or the new one from Moeller was equipped with an AS valve, so that wasn't the issue. The original uptake tube did have a wire screen attached to the tank end (which looked new and unclogged when we removed it), and the new one from Moeller does not. We are not replacing that tube-end screen, figuring the new fuel filter will take care of keeping debris from the engine --and is easier to clear than the screen in the tank!

The original installation had a manual shut-off valve at the tank fitting, which still looked good and we reinstalled it with the new fuel line. But, we couldn't get the primer to pull gas from the tank to the filter -- let alone to the primer ball or the engine. UNTIL we removed that in-line shut off, which we think must have been bad and allowing an air leak, and used the outboard's fuel pump on water muffs to pull fuel through. so far, so good on that. We have yet to water test, wanting to get the fuel gauge working.