1988 Correct Craft Martinique - Nav lights issue
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36444
Printed Date: November-17-2024 at 3:25am
Topic: 1988 Correct Craft Martinique - Nav lights issue
Posted By: Smizerov
Subject: 1988 Correct Craft Martinique - Nav lights issue
Date Posted: June-23-2015 at 11:16am
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I've just purchased a 1988 Correct Craft Martinique C/C, I have an issue I hope to get some help with. The Nav lights will not come on. The anchor light works fine by itself. I tested the bulb and socket of the bow light by connecting it directly to a 12 volt battery, it works. When the Nav switch is on, there is voltage at the bow light but neither the bow light or anchor lights come on. The dash lights also come on and on the dash panel, there are three lights in the center arranged vertically, the center red light lights up, I think it is for volts but the writing is faded. The switch lights up when selected and does not pop out the breaker. The battery is fully charged at 12.48 volts. Is there a relay or something else I am missing, I would really love to take this boat out but want to get these working first. This site was highly recommended when I contacted Correct Craft, I really hope to get some help, thanks in advance ------------- Smizerov |
Replies:
Posted By: spiralhelix
Date Posted: June-23-2015 at 12:52pm
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quick and dirty...use a VOM to test along the electrical path. Not sure how much different the wiring is from the SN and the reference section doesn't have a diagram specific to your boat :( but i would bet it is just a simple positive wire from the switch to the light with ground coming back. seems like 9/10 times it is a ground issue. the breaker indicator light just indicates that the breaker has voltage, but verify it is 12v. The current then flows both to the dash lights (blue) and the bow light (grey). Since the dash lights work, the issue would need to be between the breaker-->bow light-->ground. You said there was voltage at the light, was that voltage 12v and what connections did you use to test? is the dash indicator alarm light on with the ignition breaker on and the key "off" or when the key is "on". the bow/anchor lights should work with the key off as they are tied to the main ignition breaker, but the alarm lights are tied to the "on" side of the key. the anchor light may not come on with the nav switch if the diode between the breakers has gone bad. Most people don't worry about replacing it and just use both switches when running at night, but i believe it is a simple 12v 1a diode. i removed the diode as it was crumbling. i can pm you a higher rez if need be. 
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Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-23-2015 at 1:12pm
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Thanks for your reply, I sincerely appreciate the help. I tested the bow light with a volt meter set to DC 20 with black as ground and grey as positive, I am going by memory but I'll check this again, I believe the voltage was around 10, not up to 12. The only scenario I used was with the key on, ignition on and nav on, I'll try those other scenarios you mentioned. Where can I find the diode and what does it look like? I assume to test the ground, I'd connect an ohm meter at the ground side of the switch and at the ground at the bow light? The pic is ok, I actually have the wiring diagram and I assume all of the original documentation, there is a lot. It seems that's the one thing this guy did, he kept all of the paperwork in tact. I know he did some changes with the electrical to hook up "other stuff" and I forgot to mention, the horn and cuddy light (only the driver side) don't work either, I'm hoping it all traces back to the same source but I'll keep working through it until everything works. I wanted to test the horn too but looks like that is going to be hard to get to and replace if that's what it needs. Haven't yet been able to get in there but I know where it is... ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: spiralhelix
Date Posted: June-23-2015 at 7:19pm
hmmm, voltage drop. possible wire corrosion? |
Smizerov wrote:Posted By: spiralhelix
Date Posted: June-23-2015 at 7:20pm
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yeah, you shouldn't need anything else on other than the ignition breaker. it will be a little black cylinder between the nav and anchor light breaker on the switched side. I would remove this if it is damaged in any way. Seems like most people remove them once they go bad and just make sure to use both breakers when running at night. If it is damaged and you want to replace it, i believe it is a 12v 1a diode. The breaker doesn't actually have a ground attached to it, current simply flows through it. Hot 12v in (with ignition breaker on), switched 12v out. if you stick the neg lead from the VOM to the ground cluster/bar and the positive lead to the switched side of the breaker, that should tell you if the current is flowing through the light correctly, however, the bulb should be the indicator of this :) You could test the continuity of the wires going up to the light and back so you know if the path is good or broken. Awesome, that should help dramatically to know how it was originally wired. If the diagram is different than the ones in the reference section, try scanning it and posting it. are any of the other devices working like the bilge, blower, stereo, etc? If this were me, i would just start at one end of the breakers and one by one test the paths to see where everything ends up. I think you might be on to something being traced back to a single source after other electrical work was done. Was a negative bus bar added or are all the grounds pigtailed? just take your time and hopefully you can find the source of the problem. My horn didn't work when I first got my boat only to find the PO had wired it incorrectly. works great now! |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-24-2015 at 2:25pm
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Thanks for all the feedback, I'll go back in over the weekend and let you know the result. ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-29-2015 at 12:29pm
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Ok, so first the good news, I took your advice and methodically tracked down each wire, the result is the nav light now works, the switch seems to have an issue though because you have to make sure you push it hard otherwise the light does not come on, but I'll replace that. Some wires behind the cuddy panel were not connected and one ground wire had portions that were bare so I'm replacing those. The bad news is, when replacing the horn, I noticed the voltage at approx. 10.5 while the battery is approx. 12.5. This seems to be everywhere I tested and also at the guage, it shows approx. 10.5. When I connected the horn, I measured the voltage at approx. 10.5 then when I applied the switch, the voltage dropped to 5.5 and the horn made a weak single beep sound. I connected the horn directly to the battery and everything was fine. Is there a voltage regulator or something between the wiring and the battery for me to check? Also I am thinking maybe to replace both battery cables, they look in ok shape and there is no corrosion at the terminals. How does the negative terminal get to the negative block were all of the ground wires connect? Any ideas?? ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: spiralhelix
Date Posted: June-29-2015 at 2:57pm
I'm hoping someone else with more knowledge of your boat can answer your questions. I wouldn't think there would be a voltage regulator in the path as everything needs 12v to operate correctly. I watched a video once about voltage drop and all the wires tested great with resistance and continuity but still had horrible with voltage drop causing the starter to not work. So a wire that "looks" good and even had minimal resistance, can still be the weak link. I would try running a 10 gauge wire from the battery straight to the input side of the ig breaker (disconnect the orignal lead from the breaker) and see if you still get a drop. That would at least help rule out that wire or if it is occurring within the dash side of things. Tedious i know, but I would leave everything disconnected and add one item at a time (blower first, test for drop, then nav light, test for drop, etc...). As far as the negative run...no clue on that either. most of the time it is run to the rear of the motor, but if someone did work on it, they can change the location As it was mentioned in other posts...the engine is one big negative bus bar. If the original ground is still being used, it would should be easy to trace from harness to harness. If a new wire had been run, that should be pretty obvious as it would appear out of sorts compared to the original wiring. Hope that helps get you going. -Spiral |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-29-2015 at 3:02pm
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Yes, that helps... Thanks. I'll post the results then when I get things worked out. ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: June-29-2015 at 7:05pm
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No voltage regulator. Just voltage drop due to undersized wire and bad connection. I've gained close to 3 volts just cleaning the green out of the rubber engine harness connectors. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 11:30am
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I did see some "Green" in there and started hitting it with sandpaper, thanks for the tip, I'll go through and clean all of those... ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 12:38pm
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An additional power and ground wire are often ran alongside the originals. The original wire was undersized and any corrosion at the connections adds to the voltage drop. Just parallel the original wiring from battery to dash with something fresh. Most 88s I've been under already have buss bars, if not they are a good thing to add. ------------- |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 12:48pm
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Mine does have a buss bar for the ground, I located one wire there that was thicker than the others, I assumed that was the connection coming from the battery. I cleaned the "Green" from it but still the same result. I'm going to trace these all back and clean them up and replace as you suggested over the weekend, I'll let you know how that works out but I think we are on the right track. The biggest issue now is the horn and the drop of 5 volts when I apply the switch so I may look at replacing that too... If anything else comes to mind, let me know. I appreciate the help. ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 12:51pm
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I did not say to replace anything. Add fresh power (don't skip the breakers) and ground wires. If your battery cables are OK you can begin the positive from the starting relay A post. Take the new buss bar ground wire straight down to the battery. ------------- |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 1:04pm
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Ok, thanks for clarifying... ------------- Smizerov |
Posted By: spiralhelix
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 2:22pm
| yeah, i wouldn't replace anything until you find what is causing the problem. By temporarily running a new power and/or ground wire for testing purposes (I would just run them above board now, then do a proper run after you fix whatever is causing the problem), you can start to find where the problem lies. |
Posted By: Smizerov
Date Posted: June-30-2015 at 2:34pm
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Good point, I agree... ------------- Smizerov |