Now what...? intermittent. power to the dash? What the f#*".

[Hollis]

I took the boat w/rebuilt 460 to the lake and after a rough start it ran well, shut it off to see if it would restart and it did. I shut it off a second time and loaded some friends and tryed to restart...No F#cking way! No power to the key or dash.I unloaded the boat put it back on the trailer and hauled it to a mechanic. It started!!
How stupid deos that make me look? So I hauled it back to the lake and took a short ride and shut it off. 45 minutes later I had no power to the dash and switch again...What the f#ck is up with this..? Is it possessed? Any thought on this would be really,really appreciated.
I'm going back to sailing.

[bordsmnj]

since i have a degree from the school of the totaly obvious i feel quailified to state that it's probably a bad conneciton. check the connection at the battery terminal. most of the time the positive lead has a big wire and a little wire. makes sure this "factory" connection isn't corroded. then go to the starter and make sure all three wires are on there good. should have a groung lead that goes to the dash and typically that wire gets spliced to hit the gauges, lights, and whatever else. then there's the starter relay and switch. inspect these also.if you have a fuse box check that all the fuses are in there snug. should also be a lead from the battery to the dash that supplys the power up there. probably goes to the back of the key switch first. lastly make sure that your ground from the battery to the motor is in good shape. when poking around under the dash,etc. good idea to disconnect the battery. some boats are wire a little different than others but these are the places that i had issues with my last boat. i rewired the whole damned thing. i hope you have better luck than that.

[spectras only]

Check the inline fuse for corrosion , behind the dash [older boats didn't have the breaker style] and maybe your ign switch starting to go,[when cold it's ok to start]if it's the still the original , I would replace it.

[Jrocket]

Bad connection or bad ground or both.

[SchellSchock]

Starter solenoid??????

[Hollis]

Thank you so much to everyone, I'll check them out.
cry
Nice avatar JRocket.

[Moneypitt]

Carry a hot wire and know how to use it! also know how to jump the starter directly to turn the motor over. I realize sking this way would be tough, but it'll get you back to the dock. Boats are really hard on wiring, dirty or loose conections will mess up your weekend for sure. Look around, clean, tighten, and inspect the wiring. I too usually just pull it out and start over, MY WAY!.......Moneypitt

[Hollis]

You must mean crossing the selinoid...Can you be a little more specific with the hot wire..?

[bordsmnj]

if you are going to hot wire it use a big,thick wire or screw driver don't use a piece of 14 or 12 awg.unless your doing it at the key switch. :cool:

[Hollis]

Could the balast resister or the selinoid cause an intermitant power loss like this...? frown