2005 Mercruiser 4.3 190 hp Won't Start

8122pbrainard wrote: spiralhelix wrote: just make sure you get a digital one. Much nicer. . I have a tendency to disagree. Unless you go high end digital with a "save" function, the cheap digitals will not pick up momentary readings. With an analog, you can always see a needle twitch.

fair and valid point.

I guess based on the smaller analog that I have, it's much harder to see a difference between 11.4v and 11.8v. I should breakout the ole analog with my next amp project :)

meters can be pretty cheap for simple tests. So no need to get a Fluke :)   Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, Walmart, Menards, Home Depot, Amazon, etc... will have them. The analogs use to be less expensive, not sure if you can even get one, but just make sure you get a digital one. Much nicer.

If you ever have to deal with points or want to get tach readings...Amazon had a decent one for $35 to measure dwell/tach. I picked it up and tend to use it often since it has a nice big display. My other one is an Innova that has LEDs for battery testing too.

Here is the one i got for dwell/tach

And here is my go to VOM My dad actually got this one back in the mid 90's and still is going strong.

I found a wiring harness diagram and it is pretty much useless. I'm looking for a better one.

I haven't tested the ignition switch itself yet. I was called over pretty late in the day and my neighbor was having a family reunion so a lot of onlookers and not much input.

Unfortunately my meter(was my Dad's) got packed up and put into storage. If anyone has a suggestion where the best place for me to buy a good cheap one that would be great.

Battery connection is fine. Not much corrosion and it is on tight. I started looking around the starter and all the connections seem fine. The part that makes me want to say it is a fuse it that the gauges don't work nor the radio. I took the dash panel out and check the ignition connections and one was a little loose. Tightened it up and still nothing. The fuses in the panel under the dash are all fine.   

The boat is in Maine and I'm at work in MA. I'll be up there bright and early Saturday. I don't have internet up there so I figured I'd get some Ideas now and start digging into it on Saturday..

Sorry about that. Typing these up I get a little ahead of myself.

It is dead. won't turn over, no clicking or anything. It is like the battery is disconnected.

It is intact. I actually played around with it to see if it might be the issue.

I know it isn't a CC but my neighbor's 2005 19ft Stingray 190 hp 4.3 V6 Mercruiser will not start and I am in hopes that someone has encountered this issue and can be of some help.

So the Battery is 100% charged. The bilge, horn, trim, nav lights, and blower all work. The stereo and gauges are dead. I turn the key and nothing. I went on the hunt for fuses and found one that was blown. It was a 20 amp on top of the engine. (It was late in the evening and I had to leave so my descriptions will be somewhat limited). I replaced it and nothing. I pushed the relay on the back of the engine. Nothing.

After crawling around the boat, there seems to be fuses scattered here and there. Am I missing one? There are also these grounding points that aren't connected on the top of the engine, but, they don't look like they have ever been connected to anything.

It is a low hour boat that isn't really used much. My neighbor took his family on a lake cruise for about two hours and never went over 5 mph. Docked the boat, shut it off, and that was it. One hour later it wouldn't start.

I did play with the shifter and the kill switch as well. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. The boat ramp is five + miles down the lake and we have to go under a very narrow bridge.   I've towed people to the ramp before. It isn't fun.