93' Ski Nautique Pop Quiz

[pdxCC]

So here's a challenge for the group. This has happened three times to me and I can't definitavely figure it out... I think I either have a bad blower motor that draws too many amps or a bad 50A breaker. This only happens with the blower on but I think it will happen with the heater on as well.

Last weekend we were out on the water and I went to re-start the boat with the blower on. I heard a "pop" like a breaker being thrown and then I was dead in the water.

I tried to diagnose the problem and here is what I found:
- I lost power to my dash. Voltmeter shows ~4V between the hot wire and the ground.
- I was showing ~4V between the hot/red side of the solenoid and the block.
- Battery was showing 12.4V.
- I cannot "reset/push in" the 50A breaker button that appears to be popped out farther than the 12.5A breaker at the back of the motor.
- When I disconnected the battery and reconnected it I got all my goodies back and was able to get going again.

I have the 5.8 Pro-Boss with the Pro-Tec ignition.

Any ideas?

[acemech]

hey, I've got a 92 snob and had a similar prob with the 50amp brkr.But mine happened whenever I shut down the boat...i would have to re set the breaker.Back to basics...check your grounds.Then there is a couple of smaller wires going to the relays/breaker?(cant remember) that are under silicone.I think one is yellow the other red.Anway, mine had worked loose under the silicone causing the circuit to draw high amps and pop the breaker.I tightened and re-siliconed. I also replaced the breaker.No problems since then. Your case I would def check the blower to see if it spins freely, if u have an amp meter that chks dc voltage u can check it undr load.On another note I heard a problem with the pro tec system leaking voltage back to ground through that EMS thing that the spark plugs connect to.My mechanic installed a 1/2 inch phenolic wedge between the two parts to solve the problem.(it was part of a recall i believe...not sure but they were factory parts) But I heard that caused the same type of problem w/ that 50amp breaker.Good luck!

[ffmedic74]

I am going to gues that its the ground in the guage panel. They ran the ground in series instead of in parallel. The wires get old and can cause issues. Try running a new main ground wire.

[$$$BIMP$$$]

easy one here............

the cables were bad in them years AKA : connection between the postive cable and terminal it self ( re-read slowly ) ALWAYS a bad connection when power is on / off / on again gig .....good luck !

[pdxCC]

Thanks for the input. I really need to spend an afternoon wrenching on the boat to figure this one out. I had a new problem pop up in my dash that I think is related to the ground issue so I'll start there. I ran a new ground when I installed PP and then I tied my heater into it. Now perfect pass has a problem where it turns on and off on occasion. Basically I agree that the original wiring is not upto the task and needs some TLC. Where can I get the Black Silicone gunk to re-seal the 50A breaker??

Cheers
Brett