1999 Air Nautique Main Power Wire Corroded

[Joshua J Rowe]

Last summer I notice the starter felt weak, it would hardly start the engine. A little investigating and I found the wiring at the battery terminals to be severely corroded.

I cleaned off the corrosion with some penetrating oil and a wire brush. After that it turned over great. Only issue is...that only lasted a few weeks.

I want to replace the main power and ground wires.

Does anyone know the routing, how these wires are secured down, etc?

Can this be done without pulling up the floor?

If I could use the old to pull through the new that would be great, but that assumes there are no clamps or anything securing the wire along its path.

Thanks

[homer12]

Might try this first. Same issue happened to me in our old Mastercraft when trying to start the boat... especially after everything was warm. The only thing I did was cut the old battery terminals off the wires, cut back a bit, strip to fresh copper and put new terminals on. Ran strong after that several years without doing anything else and never had the problem again. Something simple to try first anyway. By the way the wires seemed and looked fine but must have had enough oxidation on the inside preventing a good flow of current


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Joshua J Rowe]

Might try this first. Same issue happened to me in our old Mastercraft when trying to start the boat... especially after everything was warm. The only thing I did was cut the old battery terminals off the wires, cut back a bit, strip to fresh copper and put new terminals on. Ran strong after that several years without doing anything else and never had the problem again. Something simple to try first anyway. By the way the wires seemed and looked fine but must have had enough oxidation on the inside preventing a good flow of current


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

My terminals come off. I took them off and cleaned wire end and the terminals. Applied electrical grease for reasssembly.

The corrosion seems to continue inside the insulation and I cannot get enough slack in the wire to cut any off. I will see if there is any way to get some slack in the wire.

Thanks

[DW SD]

Have you tried after cleaning the end sealing with shrink tubing? Get the marine kind which is adhesive lined. Ancor makes good stuff.

Also, I had an 1999 Air Nautique. I passed a cable through front to rear with a fiberglass rod like a wiring tech would use to pass a wire through a wall. There are 6' and 8' and 10' versions. I used 6' and it barely reached with nothing to spare.

Note, I had to push the rod through the cable routing housing under the dash as it made a hard 90 degree turn. If I went the other direction from rear to front, the rod would never find the right path.

[homer12]

My terminals come off. I took them off and cleaned wire end and the terminals. Applied electrical grease for reasssembly.

The corrosion seems to continue inside the insulation and I cannot get enough slack in the wire to cut any off. I will see if there is any way to get some slack in the wire.

Thanks

I hear ya. I'll say though - my wires looked fine like nothing was wrong. Sorry to hear you don't have enough slack. Try new terminals then if the old ones come right off. It's only maybe $6 and worth a shot.

[charlesml3]

I get that it's only a $6 part, but I would consider a bit more of the "big picture" here. If it ends up going bad leaving you stranded on the lake or leaving you sitting home for an entire weekend, that extra money you'd have spent on a new cable is going to seem trivial, even if it was $100.

I'd tie a light rope to the end and pull the entire cable out. Take the cable to a good auto parts store and they'll make you a new one while you wait.

[Joshua J Rowe]

I get that it's only a $6 part, but I would consider a bit more of the "big picture" here. If it ends up going bad leaving you stranded on the lake or leaving you sitting home for an entire weekend, that extra money you'd have spent on a new cable is going to seem trivial, even if it was $100.

I'd tie a light rope to the end and pull the entire cable out. Take the cable to a good auto parts store and they'll make you a new one while you wait.

That is what I am thinking. I want to replace the cable.

I was hoping someone had already done this and could tell me if the wire could be pulled through or if it is secured down under the flooring. A wiring diagram would be awesome as well.

The issue right now is I cannot do any testing. Engine is winterized so I cant start it up to see if new terminals did the trick!

I either wait for spring to test, or just replace the whole thing right now.

[charlesml3]

It's funny, I have a 99 Air Nautique and one of the things I just have never done is replace that cable. That said, I do know how it runs. It goes through a tunnel to a starter relay on the engine. There may be a few cable ties around the engine area, but once you get past that it'll just be laying in the tunnel. Disconnect the battery side and then the starter relay side. Tie a light rope on that end and pull it from the battery end. It can't be that bad.

-Charles

[Quinner]

Sounds like you are using the clamp style terminal end, the better solution is to use a solder on type. A quality terminal will be polarity specific also so be sure and get a + & - as they are not the same size. Clean thoroughly before soldering and check the opposite end of the same cable for a tight, clean connection.

[DW SD]

I'm guessing the cable will be zip-tied along with the rest of the wire bundle. Doesn't seem easy to pull wires through, maybe that heavy-gauge one will work, though. I tried to remove a wire bundle for my speed controller servo and ended up pulling the plastic terminal end off when it got stuck part way. And that one wasn't zip-tied with the bundle as it was added later.
BTW - you are getting good advice here.
One more note, I use this spray to coat exposed metal as my boat is used in a salt water lagoon. It dries as a heavy amber wax, kind of like cosmoline you see applied by auto manufacturers to protect exposed metal parts. I use it on battery terminals, too. Seems to work great.

Doug

[Joshua J Rowe]

Soaked the ends of the wires in Coke and hit them with a wire brush. Look like new. Cleaned up terminals and coated everything with electric grease. New AGM battery and it started right up last weekend. Looks like don't need new wires.