ignition always on

[dwmmatt23]

well i still have the engine run on problem that havent been able to fix, then the other day it dawned on mewhen i was hooking up one of my new gauges that when i switch the battery on the gauges turn on as well, now this means that the ignition is switched on right? i put a new ignition switch in and with the key off and totally out of switch the gauges are on. wouldnt they stay off till ignition is switch on? anybody know electrical more than me that might be of some help? or point me in the right direction of trouble shooting?

[Xlration Marine]

They come on when you turn the battery on? This means they are wired hot. And on the hot side of your ignition. Take the wire off and hook it up to the correct terminal.

[roostwear]

You swapped terminals when you replaced the switch. Time to get out the meter and find what wire(s) have power from the battery. That should go to the "BAT" terminal on the switch.

[widowmaker]

They come on when you turn the battery on? This means they are wired hot. And on the hot side of your ignition. Take the wire off and hook it up to the correct terminal.
Exaclty what he said. You probably have your gauges wired to the wrong terminal on the ignition. They are three prongs on the back of the ignition switch. 12+(always on) 12+(momentary starter) and 12+(only on when the key is switched to the on position.) This is all assuming you have a three postion ignition switch which most people do.

[dwmmatt23]

yes they are on when the battery is on, the switch is wired up correctly. is there any feed back that might be comming from wiring thats wrong else where that would cause that? im not worried about the gauges its not being able to shut of motor

[roostwear]

It's not right. The feed from the battery goes to the switch FIRST (BAT), then to the ACC and/or ENG terminals depending on key position. Did you do anything to the wiring at the starter recently?

[Oldsquirt]

.....then the other day it dawned on me when i was hooking up one of my new gauges that when i switch the battery on the gauges turn on as well,
By any chance did you switch from an ammeter to a voltmeter?
....... the switch is wired up correctly. .........
How about telling us what wires are on each terminal. It just may turn out that they aren't correct.

[hotrod56cars]

My .02,
Here's what you do, remove all of the wires from your igition switch, hook up your BAT wire by finding it with a test light from the wires you just removed (it has power as soon the battery is hooked up), next turm the key to on, make sure using the test light that only the BAT and the IG terminals have power on the switch itself, and one at a time put each wire you removed from the key switch onto the IG terminal on the back of the key switch, put the test light on + of the coil, when you find the wire that makes the test light "light", hook up that wire to the IG terminal, next put each wire on, one at a time to the BAT terminal, when you find the wire that makes the engine turn over, hook up that wire to the ST terminal. You may need to throw away your color codes/wiring map/? and start over. As you go through the process recheck everything with a test light before you move to the next step. Your ignition switch could be mis-wired/faulty, your wires mis-labeled, ? a lot of possibilities. Any leftover wires will have to be traced (lights?, fuel pump?, etc...). If you follow that procedure I am confident you will find the problem's source.
The ammeter to the volt gauge is a good question as well.
Off on a limb, if the altenator got rewired/replaced recently that's a possible source of the engine won't shut off scenerio. If you installed a GM 3 wire altenator, if it was wired incorrectly or is bad, it's very possible that could make the engine not shut off also.

[ap67et10]

By any chance did you switch from an ammeter to a voltmeter?
How about telling us what wires are on each terminal. It just may turn out that they aren't correct.
I was going to ask the same thing. seems like this is probably your problem...if you just changed the gauges. amp and volt meters have to be wired completely different. if this is the case you may also notice your voltmeter doesn't seem to work.
oh and your gauges always being on is most likely the same problem as your run on. so fix one and probably you will fix the other.
you haven't touched anything in the engine area right? just gauges?

[roostwear]

If that were the case, trying to pass the system load through a voltmeter will smoke it in short order.

[dwmmatt23]

no it had a volt meter in it before and still had the problem

[sleekcrafter]

Might try removing and insulating the field wire from the Alternator, and see if it will turn off. You may have a shorted diode in the alternator, or need a Diode on the field wire to keep it from back feeding the ignition. Just a couple things to try, good luck.

[Jetaholic]

Well Matt came over and had me look at the problem.
Whoever wired the boat before had a constant hot wire running to the hot terminal of the voltmeter gauge, along with the gauge hot wire that goes to that gauge. This of course backfed constant power to all the gauges as well as the ignition.
Removed the wire and now she's fixed.

[dwmmatt23]

Well Matt came over and had me look at the problem.
Whoever wired the boat before had a constant hot wire running to the hot terminal of the voltmeter gauge, along with the gauge hot wire that goes to that gauge. This of course backfed constant power to all the gauges as well as the ignition.
Removed the wire and now she's fixed.
yea what he said. thanks a million jon

[Oldsquirt]

Whoever wired the boat before had a constant hot wire running to the hot terminal of the voltmeter gauge, along with the gauge hot wire that goes to that gauge. This of course backfed constant power to all the gauges as well as the ignition.
EXACTLY why I asked about the voltmeter.........
BTW, since the individual who converted the boat to a voltmeter got things wrong at the meter end, did you check to see if the output circuit from the alternator was changed to take advantage of the voltmeter install? Hopefully the output no longer runs from alternator to dash and back to the battery.

[Jetaholic]

EXACTLY why I asked about the voltmeter.........
BTW, since the individual who converted the boat to a voltmeter got things wrong at the meter end, did you check to see if the output circuit from the alternator was changed to take advantage of the voltmeter install? Hopefully the output no longer runs from alternator to dash and back to the battery.
Actually it was your post about that that got me thinkin'. However it wasn't hooked up as an ammeter, but...had you not have posted that I probably never would've thought to look behind the voltmeter itself and find that additional wire.