WTF electrical problem. Help!

nipper · #1 06-30-2011, 08:38 PM

Took my 91 V20 cuddy cabin out today and had a real nice day. After the last stop for a swim, I fired her up, idled away from the shallows a bit, hit the throttle, and about 5 seconds later, BAM, everything shut down. I immediately noticed none of the gauges was registering any electric power, went below into the cuddy to the fuse panel, and the fuse panel had blown off where it is attached. I re-attached it, but still now power to anything but the tilt and trim. No fuses had blown. I was just a couple hundred yards from the launch ramp, so I caught a tow from a good samaritan, brought it home, and am now asking for y'all's help in where to start. It is a 4.3 litre Chevy V6 motor. I did try the reset switch on the motor to no avail. I have no power to anything but tilt and trim.

aussie · #2 06-30-2011, 09:11 PM

im no expert but it sounds like a fuse or a inline fuseable link .First thing i would check see if you are getting power to the ignition switch if not trace the power wire back see where it leads too .if u have no power to ignition switch u can cheat and run a fused wire of the battery to the ignition and see if all works but first check ignition with a test light good luck

nipper · #3 06-30-2011, 09:45 PM

Thanks, Aussie. Any idea where to look for the fuseable link?

nipper · #4 06-30-2011, 10:24 PM

I think I may have found the problem. From reading the owner's manual, there is a 90 Amp fuse on the starter solenoid on my engine. Now I just have to find the darned thing when it gets light out tomorrow. The tilt/trim has a 110 amp fuse and maybe that is why it did not blow. The next thing to do will be to figure out why that 90 Amp fuse blew. It must have been a pretty bad electrical surge to blow the fuse panel off its connections.

spareparts · #5 07-01-2011, 06:10 AM

its the little plastic square box on the starter main terminal

nipper · #6 07-08-2011, 10:53 AM

Well after hours and hours of probing the electrical system, I could not figure why I was not getting power up to the fuse panel, so I took it to the mechanic who installed the new motor for me a few years ago. Even though he is a friend, I am still bent over expecting a good shafting.