Electric shock issue.

mauryc · #1 07-24-2011, 08:00 AM

Gentlemen,

My 87' 175 Johnson is providing a nice shock when my hands are damp on my stainless steering wheel. Obviously a short somewhere. Any feedback on what may be causing the problem? She was cutting out a little last time out and the carbs have recently been redone so I'm leaning toward electrical. I haven't run her at night yet to check fo a arc. The neighbors will love that :)

TIA,

Maury

reelapeelin · #2 07-24-2011, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauryc

Gentlemen,

My 87' 175 Johnson is providing a nice shock when my hands are damp on my stainless steering wheel. Obviously a short somewhere. Any feedback on what may be causing the problem? She was cutting out a little last time out and the carbs have recently been redone so I'm leaning toward electrical. I haven't run her at night yet to check fo a arc. The neighbors will love that :)

TIA,

Maury

You might wanna leave all hatch covers, doors etc open till you find the short..if it arcs in and area that has the possibility of collecting gas fumes it could become a bigger issue pretty quickly...unlikely, but still...

pull the cowl off the motor and run it as you suggest at night, then trace to the battery....if not found by then, start tracing to the dash...good luck and let us know...

garagenc · #3 07-24-2011, 09:09 AM

check to see if a chaffed/bare wire is laying against the steering assembly.

spareparts · #4 07-24-2011, 09:19 AM

does it only do it while the engine is running?

mauryc · #5 07-24-2011, 09:27 AM

yep, only when running.

spareparts · #6 07-24-2011, 10:31 AM

its probably something to do with the tach wire or the kill switch, disconnect the gray wire at the tach and see if it still does it, look around at the gray wire's routing, also look at the black/yellow wire as well.

yodaddy · #7 07-24-2011, 12:33 PM

If it's not something previously mentioned, it could be a shorted coil or bad plug wire. Check the plug wires by running the motor in the dark and look for arcs. If it's a coil arcing out the back you might hear a snapping sound when it arcs.

mauryc · #8 07-25-2011, 05:40 AM

thanks guys. I'll take a look. The tach and fuel gage (both new within two years) are having issues so I wonder if its related. Tach jumps and fuel gage goes straight to full when I turn the key on. Neither did this when I installed them. Hopefully I'll get some spare time this weekend and track it down. Too many projects and not enough time.

phatdaddy · #9 07-25-2011, 06:43 AM

maury, do you have a volt gauge of your dash or gps? check to see if that is reading normal. check the neg post on your battery.

lumberslinger178 · #10 07-25-2011, 08:02 AM

Its nice haveing some knowledge around.