Rewire and gauges help

[jsylvester08]

So I have the week off to try to rewire my 86' osprey 19'6. I got the boat 2 years ago from a guy who didnt take much care of it. I cleaned up the hull and got the motor work but I just ignored the wires but it's my offseason goal to get it cleaned up and gauges and lights working. Currently there are no working lights and none of my gauges work. The guy I bought the boat from had a new gas tank put in the season before I got it but the gas gauge does not work. It reads 1/4 of a tank when i start to fill it but it doesnt seem to move even when the tank is topped off or empty. So I don't really know where to start but I'm looking for any help or suggestions from you guys.
http://s1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii527/jsylvester08/
My plan
- I want to run new wires to the bow and replace the bow light with an LED bow light. I want to rewire the deck lights and replace them with LED on the sides. I would love to try to get at least the gas and RPM gauge. The battery gauge works and I want to keep it working.
-I have thought about pulling the old dash off and replacing it with starboard to clean it up
- Switches- The old switches are all in a West Marine dash unit (not sure what its called) Is this worth buying a new one all together or I was thinking buying 4 pull switches and setting them in the new dash.

I am a teacher and was hoping to do this all on my own and as cheap as i can. Obvisouly i dont want to cut corners and have to redo it in a year or 2 but any suggestions on how to save a dollar here or there I would really appriciate.
Thanks for everyones help.
I'm trying to upload photos so you can see the mess i'm trying to fix.

[pete]

for good deals on marine grade wire and connectors go to genuinedealz.com

[seabob4]

J,
That certainly looks familiar, sort of like Aarons 200 Osprey...



She ended up pretty good...



What always helps me is to get everything out of the console so you can actually see what you have to work with.  Too often owners, when faced with a maze of wiring, simply can't see the forest from the trees, so to speak.  

If you feel you have some pretty decent skills working with 12VDC wiring, I can be of some assistance...

[Aswaff400]

bob, that was definitely money well spent! i am glad that nightmare is gone!

[seabob4]

Aaron,
HOPEFULLY, we'll have a relative decent day on the bay in a couple weeks, would like to see some speed from that Evinrude!

Thank you, Sir!  

[jsylvester08]

Thanks for the help already. I have some experience working with power e.g rewiring lights in a room or around the house. I feel comfortable working with power and I think I'm just going to try to work backwards from what was there before. The only wiring is deck lights running lights and power to the blidge which is on a switch. The gauges are wired too I think but they don't go to the switches I'm going to get a fuse bus and switch panel. But any advise on where to start or how to run wires would be great.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Rewired my 19-6 last year, I started the old fashioned way, ripped all the old out...I assume you still have the wiring trough on yours so it makes it a little easier..I did my long runs first, switch to the back stern light then up to the bow light (same wire)used a fishtape to pull the wires thru the gunnel to the front, then a new wire for my courtesy lights (under the gunnel, both sides)had to fish it one side of bilge to the other (added a 4in access on port side),lights done!, Bilge, if you aren't using a automatic switch, which uses a 3wire, just pull a 2 wire out to the bilge and thats done...use a ground bus bar to hook all the grounds to, and use some sort of corrosion protection on all ends with eyelets. Figure the best place for fuse bus (Easy access) leave longer tails on wires until you start to make connections under console so you can run your wiring in a neat/orderly way(easier to trace) tied up and strapped. Your gauges should have lights, if so just tie unto the postive wire(under console) to the nav lights and I believe most wiring books say use purple for gauge lights? run this wire to first gauge light and then just run a jumper to the next and then the next, same way with the ground ,1 wire to the first gauge then jump to the next and so on...if you take your time and picture how you want it to look you can do it fairly easy....Use good crimpers and waterproof connectors(heatshrink).Hope this helps. :pirat:

[pete]

the 12 volt bible for boats is a great reference..
http://www.amazon.com/12-Volt-Bible-Boa ... 0071560912

[jsylvester08]

So I started the pulling of the old wires today and of course it was like opening a can of worms. The wires for lights seems like I can do but the wires that run to and from the ignition switch is all over the pace ad hopefully you guys have an idea of what im looking at
This is what the ignition looks like from under the console.


This kill switch runs to it but im not sure what its for


And this tube i think holds a fuse but again dont know what it is for.


The last is this which I have no idea what it is


My question is if I am replacing the dash and the rest of the wires should I get a new ignition switch and replace the old one and clean up these wires? Is there a wiring diagram for and Evinrude 115 from 83'?

And lastly this is what my fuel tank sending unit looks like

It does not work. Can this be replaced easily? is it worth replacing?

Also my choke stopped working this past season and I was going to take it to a mechanic to be fixed could the bad wires be the cause of the choke not working?

[seabob4]

Wow....

'83 is really old school OMC stuff, One aspect I'm not really familiar with.  Keep in mind, kill switch circuits usually apply a ground to the coil to kill the motor, so one of the yellow wires should show continuity to ground, the other showing continuity to the run circuit.  Flip the switch, the circuit closes, coil is grounded, engine shuts off.

That last pic looks lake an alarm. And the sender?  That's nasty, and if you want your fuel gauge to work, yes, you need to replace it.  You notice there is no ground wire attached, in it's present wiring configuration, even if it was brand new, it would never work.  Senders work on resistance to ground, not voltage (although fuel gauges need voltage to work).  No ground, no workee...

[jsylvester08]

So do you think the kill switch is an override to the regular ignition switch? I Was thinking of buying a new ignition switch and getting rid of the kill switch as well as the the alarm of some sort and the fuse like thing. I have an original harness that connects to motor so am i correct to assume that if I bring the wires back to the harness a little further back then I can run the orignal wires to a new ignition switch without the old wires and clean up that mess?
 I tried looking online for a diagram for the wiring of the ignition is it a strait forward connection explained by wire color or do I need specific directions

[seabob4]

j,
This drawing is for '83 V6s, but I would imagine the ignition circuit is the same on your motor...

[gman 82 aquasport]

If the alarm is for overheating you will want to keep it, your kill switch is a lot different than mne, I have the little pull clip that you have to keep the clip in to keep it running, but my Johnson is a 92 model..
I would replace that sending unit , you may have to use a universal sending unit and adjust the float to the depth of your tank,but if your lucky you might find ont the right depth, try Moeller, thats where I found mine for my old 45 gal tank, wasn't to hard to size to fit the float...

[jsylvester08]

Hey guys,
Its been a while since I last reported but I had some progress. I made myself a new dash out of an old piece of pine and put the classic aquasport symbol right on it.


But I am having a problem with wiring. I rewired it and I think it looks great and alot cleaner and sharper as ypu can see from what it used to look like


to what it now looks like

 and


But here lies my problem. I put in a new West Marine switch panel and Ran my bildge, running lights and deck lights and fish finer to 4 different switches.
But my problem is that When I switch 1 on, everything turns on. You can see a pic of my fuse bus which I think (hope) I wired correctly but when I turn on my fish finder I really dont need my bildge running dry and running lights on.
Thanks for the help

[dburr]

With a new switch pannel did you gang anything together?  The hot (12vdc) side of the switch should have one wire from a fused source then have one wire out to the appliance. If the switches are backlit make sure that you have the light wire to the correct terminal.  No reason for all the stuff to get power at the same time unless there has been an inadvertent connection between the switches..  How about a picture of the back of the switch pannel? Good luck..