Cleaning up the dash wiring on my Vegas. What's the best way to start? Pics??

[imq707s]

Up under the dash on my 89' Vegas (w/ OMC Looper) looks like a rats nest of wires. Some of the gauges are getting power from the main wire loom coming up from the motor, and some are getting power from a separate fuse panel under there. The radio was wired in seperate with it's own power, and overall it's nice not a clean job. I want the clean everything up, and make it look nice and neat.

What's the best way to do this? Should I just pull all of the gauges and electronics out of the boat and start from scratch? What should be powered off of the 12v power coming up from the wire loom going to the motor, and what should be getting power from a separate 12v fuse panel? What size/gauge of wiring should I use to power the fuse panel?

Any pictures, or info would really help me out. Anyone have some good pics of a nice clean hydrostream "under the dash" wiring jog I could look at?

Thanks! This will be my winter project :D

[Wingnut0302]

Theres a good article on here with pics and proper color codes etc. check it out.............http://www.screamandfly.com/content.php?57-Wiring-Your-Boat-The-Right-Way

[CKMATE225]

Whichever way you do it, follow the correct color codes and get the tinned wire. it will save you tons of headaces and having to try to remember what you did when you come back in a year to check something.
I also have a clymer manual that has wireing diagrams in it for the motor, Its very helpful.

Good luck with it.

[imq707s]

Whichever way you do it, follow the correct color codes and get the tinned wire. it will save you tons of headaces and having to try to remember what you did when you come back in a year to check something.
I also have a clymer manual that has wireing diagrams in it for the motor, Its very helpful.

Good luck with it.

Thanks for the info. I have one of the factory OMC manuals, so it's got everything in it. I do remember that forum article a while about about that Euro that someone rewired. Does anyone have the link to that??

[sjcolwell2]

What i would do is use your ignition power as a signal (to exite a relay) that powers your fuse box. That way you can run a heavy wire to the fuse box directly from the battery, and just use your ignition switch power to turn the relay on. That wat you will never overload your ignition switch or wiring(factory side) and all your guage power wires, radio, depth finder e.t.c only come from the fuse box. All your signal wires from your sensor will still come from the engine harness. You can also run a heavy ground wire directly from the battery and mount a ground stud under your dash to eliminate excessive ground wires running all over the place.

[CKMATE225]

What i would do is use your ignition power as a signal (to exite a relay) that powers your fuse box. That way you can run a heavy wire to the fuse box directly from the battery, and just use your ignition switch power to turn the relay on. That wat you will never overload your ignition switch or wiring(factory side) and all your guage power wires, radio, depth finder e.t.c only come from the fuse box. All your signal wires from your sensor will still come from the engine harness. You can also run a heavy ground wire directly from the battery and mount a ground stud under your dash to eliminate excessive ground wires running all over the place.

That could really make a nice finished look to the job.

[tj309]

I would tear everything out and start from scratch. The job of re-wiring looks much more difficult than it is. Every gauge need to be grounded - either to your ground out of the motor harness or as a previous poster stated to your separate ground by your fuse box. Every gauge needs 12V and your ignition harness is good for that unless you need some serious juice for a stereo. Most gauges need a dedicated wire to do their thing like the fuel gauge, trim gauge etc and most of those wires are also found in your motor harness (I am not an OMC guy). All you have left is the hot lighting wire for most of your gauges - I would pull that from the fuse box to your light switch and then to the gauges and lights. Use a minimum of 16 gauge multi-strand wire (I use 14 just to be sure).

Before you do anything draw a mirror image picture of your dash with life-sized gauge circles - the spacing does not matter. The reason for the mirror image is that you are interested in the back side of the dash when you are on your back under the dash.

Go under your dash and disconnect every wire from every gauge and put the hardware back on the studs. No need to take notes. Then remove all the gauges and save all mounting hardware and keep the same hardware with the gauge it came off.

On the back of each gauge you will see several studs to attach wires to and these will be labeled. + is your 12V in from the motor harness or fuse box, - is ground, S is signal for things like fuel, temp, trim etc, and the one left over is for the light. Draw these terminals on your mirror image picture exactly as they are on the back of the gauges.

Sit down and take some time planning how you are going to do this. You can daisy chain the +12V, ground, and light connections from one gauge to another or you can buy a terminal block from Radio Shack and run each guage from that. Get a copy of Hot Boat magazine and look for a Daves Custom Boats job - they always show the behind the dash wiring and it is a work of art. Try to copy that. Determine what color of wires you need and buy them from an auto parts store. You will probably have to make some changes from the factory Motor harness but as long as you document everything in your picture you are ok. Then go to your home improvement store and buy the crimp connectors and shrink wrap tubing if you are in a salt water environment and anything else you need to make a "neat" installation like wire ties and cable holders.

Then just do it.

[Wingnut0302]

I would tear everything out and start from scratch. The job of re-wiring looks much more difficult than it is. Every gauge need to be grounded - either to your ground out of the motor harness or as a previous poster stated to your separate ground by your fuse box. Every gauge needs 12V and your ignition harness is good for that unless you need some serious juice for a stereo. Most gauges need a dedicated wire to do their thing like the fuel gauge, trim gauge etc and most of those wires are also found in your motor harness (I am not an OMC guy). All you have left is the hot lighting wire for most of your gauges - I would pull that from the fuse box to your light switch and then to the gauges and lights. Use a minimum of 16 gauge multi-strand wire (I use 14 just to be sure).

Before you do anything draw a mirror image picture of your dash with life-sized gauge circles - the spacing does not matter. The reason for the mirror image is that you are interested in the back side of the dash when you are on your back under the dash.

Go under your dash and disconnect every wire from every gauge and put the hardware back on the studs. No need to take notes. Then remove all the gauges and save all mounting hardware and keep the same hardware with the gauge it came off.

On the back of each gauge you will see several studs to attach wires to and these will be labeled. + is your 12V in from the motor harness or fuse box, - is ground, S is signal for things like fuel, temp, trim etc, and the one left over is for the light. Draw these terminals on your mirror image picture exactly as they are on the back of the gauges.

Sit down and take some time planning how you are going to do this. You can daisy chain the +12V, ground, and light connections from one gauge to another or you can buy a terminal block from Radio Shack and run each guage from that. Get a copy of Hot Boat magazine and look for a Daves Custom Boats job - they always show the behind the dash wiring and it is a work of art. Try to copy that. Determine what color of wires you need and buy them from an auto parts store. You will probably have to make some changes from the factory Motor harness but as long as you document everything in your picture you are ok. Then go to your home improvement store and buy the crimp connectors and shrink wrap tubing if you are in a salt water environment and anything else you need to make a "neat" installation like wire ties and cable holders.

Then just do it.


I did just that last spring,not to bad only took two good days to complete and now that its done I have no worries about the electrical system!!!

[imq707s]

What i would do is use your ignition power as a signal (to exite a relay) that powers your fuse box. That way you can run a heavy wire to the fuse box directly from the battery, and just use your ignition switch power to turn the relay on. That wat you will never overload your ignition switch or wiring(factory side) and all your guage power wires, radio, depth finder e.t.c only come from the fuse box. All your signal wires from your sensor will still come from the engine harness. You can also run a heavy ground wire directly from the battery and mount a ground stud under your dash to eliminate excessive ground wires running all over the place.


Thanks for all of the info guy, this is going to be my winter project....going to start pretty coon. I think I'm going to do just what you suggested.....use the ignition key power wire to turn on the relay, and have the relay hooked to the main power wire that will send power to the fuse panel, and then run everything off of that.

As far as a relay goes....what amperage should I get? Also, do I need anything special or can I just get one of the cube relays that they have at the autoparts stores? I have one hooked up on my electric fuel pump, and it has been working fine for the last few years.

Thanks!

[Bruster]

Wire ends and shrink tube can be had on eBay. Buy plenty. I really like the 3:1 shrink ratio adhesive lined tube. I always lightly crimp and solder all of my wire ends and then seal with adhesive lined shrink tube. Many of the wires such as the jumpers you make on a bench and you just install.

Here is a picture of a wire harness I recently restored.

http://i54.tinypic.com/ka5r2f.jpg

[imq707s]

Thanks for the heads up on getting the wire ends off of ebay...I never even thought about doing that, but I bet they sure are cheaper than getting from the auto store. Is there one vendor on ebay you like better than the rest??

Also....some of you guys have mentioned using the tinned wire for marine applications...how important is that on a lake boat? I've never done that in the past, but that's just because I've never heard of anyone using the special tinned wire until now. I don't even think the original 1989 wiring is tinned. Opinions??

[jphii]

I get all my wire & supplies off of ebay. This guy has great prices & free shipping. One stop shopping, he has everything: http://stores.ebay.com/Genuinedealz 24,000 feedback & 100% positive.

Edit: ONLY use tinned wire.

[Wingnut0302]

I bought my supplies from a website elecdirect.com,they have tinned wire for something like 15 bucks for 100 ft,they also have all the terminals and shrink tube you will need.As I understand it,tinned wire doesnt corrode like regular copper wire will(turn green) and it was only a few bucks more so I went with the tinned stuff

[imq707s]

I get all my wire & supplies off of ebay. This guy has great prices & free shipping. One stop shopping, he has everything: http://stores.ebay.com/Genuinedealz 24,000 feedback & 100% positive.

Edit: ONLY use tinned wire.

Wow!! It looks like they have all kinds of stuff!!! Anyone have any idea as far as an amp rating on the main relay that will supply power to the fuse terminal??

Thanks!!!

[Bruster]

I do most of this stuff using old wiring harness. Under the plastic it's just like new. I have a box full of great wire from 3 or 4 old ones. If it was good enough for the harness, then it's good enough now, and the price is right.


Thanks for the heads up on getting the wire ends off of ebay...I never even thought about doing that, but I bet they sure are cheaper than getting from the auto store. Is there one vendor on ebay you like better than the rest??

Also....some of you guys have mentioned using the tinned wire for marine applications...how important is that on a lake boat? I've never done that in the past, but that's just because I've never heard of anyone using the special tinned wire until now. I don't even think the original 1989 wiring is tinned. Opinions??

[DanielC]

There are some great ideas in this thread! I like the one about drawing a mirror image, and cutting wiring to that.

My choice when doing wiring in a boat is to crimp, solder, and then cover with heat shrink.

[imq707s]

Well, I think I've got all of my supplies gathered up. I got up under the dash and took some "before" pics. As you can see, it's got a nice fuse block set up that isn't really even being used. The wiring looks like a rats nest.

I'm assuming that the best thing to do is have a main relay that is activated by the key switch.....that supply's power to the fuse block terminals. Then everything will be fused and powered off of that. Not sure why it wasn't done that way in the beginning. That fuse block is there but it's really not being used.

Anyone know what size relay (amps) I should use for supplying the main power to the fuse block? Also...what size power wire should I run from the battery all the way up to the relay...12ga? or should I go with 10ga?

Thanks!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb241/iqraceworks/100_3729.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb241/iqraceworks/100_3725.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb241/iqraceworks/100_3721.jpg

[yachter55]

I have been working on mine every chance I get. 9 months.the best thing I ever did was go to harbour frieght and buy the tie wraps with a label built on it .so easy to remember where they go.

[wideglide55]

I took about 50lbs off the weight of my Eliminator by cutting out the birds nest,all new wires switches and ends if you are gonna keep it,then when your sure everything is working properly paint StarBright liquid electrical tape on every bit of exposed metal,years of trouble free service to you afterwards,I gutted it and there was a pile of wires in my shop the size of of your coffee table no $hit,guy who rigged it used cables from a 30 ft boat,found it all balled up behind the interior WTF

[Riverratt]

Keep in mind if you use a relay to power the fuse block you will need the key on to listen to the stereo and if you have an electric fuel pump or other accessories that come on now when you turn the key on they will also be running while you try to listen to the radio.

[imq707s]

Keep in mind if you use a relay to power the fuse block you will need the key on to listen to the stereo and if you have an electric fuel pump or other accessories that come on now when you turn the key on they will also be running while you try to listen to the radio.

Yeah, that is a good point. I have my fuel pump relay powered by my keyswitch.....so maybe I will just have to have a main power switch that will power up the main power relay....and the keyswitch will just turn on the pump? Lots of options I guess....I just need to find the best way to do it.

Does anyone have a suggestion for the size of "main power" relay I will need? This will be supplying power to everything under the dash....the biggest power user being the stereo system. 20a? 30a? What size? Thanks!

[Riverratt]

I am not saying it is not a good idea to do it with a relay but it has been done without it for many years with great success so I would not worry about trying to reinvent the wheel. Definitely have the fuel pump wired with a relay but what would the Fish cops say if they did a safety check and you could not turn on the anchor light or blow the horn wthout the key on? Are you planning on having the lights in the gauges come on with the key or with the light switch?

[imq707s]

I am not saying it is not a good idea to do it with a relay but it has been done without it for many years with great success so I would not worry about trying to reinvent the wheel. Definitely have the fuel pump wired with a relay but what would the Fish cops say if they did a safety check and you could not turn on the anchor light or blow the horn wthout the key on? Are you planning on having the lights in the gauges come on with the key or with the light switch?


The way it's set up now is that when I turn the key on, it turns the fuel pump on...that's the only thing that turns on when I turn the key on. The power to everything else in the boat goes through a "main power" toggle switch that supplies power to everything else (dash light, gauges, radio, nav lights, bilge pump)....so nothing really works (except starting the motor) unless that main power toggle is turned on......and I kind of like it that way. Then I can turn it off and not worry about if I accidentally left something on.

I would like to keep everything working like that....I definitely don't' want my fuel pump running unless my key is turned on, and I don't want to key to be turned on in order to get everything else to work.

So I guess I might just need to leave everything like it currently is .....just clean up the wiring? Maybe run bigger main power and ground wires up to the dash just to guarantee that everything gets all the power that is needs?

[Riverratt]

Maybe go one size bigger than what you have now for the main feed and just clean it up. If you are adding a fuse block maybe go a little bigger incase you want to add anything latter. It worked the way it is now for how many years and the only reason you are redoing it is to make it look better so why make a big change. Like I said the other suggestions were good but I just like to keep it simple but that is just me.