1994 Sport Nautique Factory Ground

[dba4life]

Can anyone give me some basic info on the factory ground in a 1994 Sport Nautique?

Asking because I had some noise in the head unit (Aftermarket Sony). I could hear the CD motor in the subs. It was hooked up to the factory wires in the dash. I ran new power and ground wires from the stereo install (4 guage straight to the battery) and that cleared up the noise completely in the CD player.

I have been having some battery issues with a slow drain. Since it appears I have a bad ground in the dash I would like to try and hunt it down. I have found some wires popping up thru a hole under the right side of the drivers feet behind the kickplate. Looks like a hanger with a black 8ga wire connected to it. Was this something the previous owner did? Or the factory ground? I am also losing about 1.3 volts to the dash from the battery. Could a bad ground cause this as well?

I have also seen under the dash the newer Nautiques have some sort of fuse/wiring box. Is there something similar in the 94 Sport? If so where do I find it.

Thanks for any advice

[DavidF]

RE: 1994 Sport Nautique Factory Ground

I think 1.3v loss is too much. A hanger with a black wire does seem correct. Your 94 uses circuit breakers mounted in the dash to protect all the wiring...the newer boats simply have switches, so they need the fuse block.

Sorry, i cannot be of much help otherwise.

[dba4life]

RE: 1994 Sport Nautique Factory Ground

What I am trying to describe is in these pictures:

http://static.flickr.com/47/140000986_3982480d31_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/56/140000784_97aed1320d_b.jpg

Looks normal compared to other 94 Sport Nautiques?

[Mikeski]

RE: 1994 Sport Nautique Factory Ground

Whenever you mix power, speaker, and RCA cables in a nest you can expect to get engine noise. I would suggest you clean and seperate out the wire with at least 6" between the power wires, speaker, and RCAs. What is that black wire partially stripped in multiple locations? Is it the remains of an antenna lead or a ground? In either case I would suggest you remove and replace it with something with good insulation. Once you get things cleaned up I would expect the engine noise to disappear. Cleaning up wiring like this is kind of like cleansing the soul... lol.

[dba4life]

RE: 1994 Sport Nautique Factory Ground

Hi Mike

Thanks for the advice. Actually believe it or not I have no engine noise. I fixed the noise by connecting + and - of the head unit to the 4ga wires for the amp instead of using the factory wiring in the dash. That is what led me down the path of thinking I have a bad ground somewhere in the dash area. I should be embarrased to show those pictures but I have it pretty torn up right now putting a new amp in and trying to finalize how I want to fit it all under the dash. It will get cleaned up.

And I am confused as well about if that black wire is an antenna lead or ground. Which is why I posted to see if other 94 owners knew. I will be back under there soon to trace it more.