Posted By: Slab_Rookie
No tilt or ignition - Fixed - 07/16/17 07:47 PM
Was out on Lavon with the family Friday night.
We've got a 2013 Suntracker 18ft BassBuggy with the 60hp Mercury Bigfoot.(4cyl EFI)
Everything was great until we tried to head in.
The ignition was unresponsive. Also tilt stopped working. Panel, lights and fish finder worked fine.
Couldn't find the culprit fuse on the lake so we called for a little help.
Spent yesterday catching up on Honey-Do's so I could trouble shoot the boat today.
The fuse in question is a 15amp mini that is in the fuse module on the forward/port side of the motor.
Once replaced the tilt worked again and I would get the confirmation beep from the motor when turning the switch to ON.
When turning from ON to Start the fuse would pop.
I disconnected the gauge and accessory harnesses and tested it but the fuse blew again.
This led me to believe that there was a short somewhere between the switch and the motor or on the motor itself.
After some continuity checks with the multi-meter I was able to track down the short to the motor itself.
Poor craftsmanship by Mercury is to blame.
In the aviation world we'd describe the wires in this harness to be "banjo'd"
Meaning they are so tight they twang like a string on a banjo when you pluck them.
That combined with routing right over the top of this bolt was an inevitable short in the making.
We've got a 2013 Suntracker 18ft BassBuggy with the 60hp Mercury Bigfoot.(4cyl EFI)
Everything was great until we tried to head in.
The ignition was unresponsive. Also tilt stopped working. Panel, lights and fish finder worked fine.
Couldn't find the culprit fuse on the lake so we called for a little help.
Spent yesterday catching up on Honey-Do's so I could trouble shoot the boat today.
The fuse in question is a 15amp mini that is in the fuse module on the forward/port side of the motor.
Once replaced the tilt worked again and I would get the confirmation beep from the motor when turning the switch to ON.
When turning from ON to Start the fuse would pop.
I disconnected the gauge and accessory harnesses and tested it but the fuse blew again.
This led me to believe that there was a short somewhere between the switch and the motor or on the motor itself.
After some continuity checks with the multi-meter I was able to track down the short to the motor itself.
Poor craftsmanship by Mercury is to blame.
In the aviation world we'd describe the wires in this harness to be "banjo'd"
Meaning they are so tight they twang like a string on a banjo when you pluck them.
That combined with routing right over the top of this bolt was an inevitable short in the making.