blowin fuses

[wattalaser]

need some advice guy's,its been a couple of months since i've had my 19 foot laser out. its got a older mo. 200 built up pretty good and has always ran great. took it out last week to blow out the cob webs and for the first time it turned over a sec then quit? it blew a fuse, the engine wouldn't turn over and the trim would not work. i always carry spares (30 amp) was the one that blew. its the fuse on the side of the engine that has the red push together plug. with a new fuse it will turn over a few times the blow, if it starts and warms it will start back every time. seems like mainly when it cold is when it blows. coul it possibly be the ignition switch ( which is a year old) cause this was just noticed that when you hit the key you have to turn it off and on to get it to hit. i really need some idea's here on what to check???? thanks again for all your help. bryan...

[baddjonny]

First does it blow the fuse in the run or start or when you push the enritchener in . That would localize the problem.
jon b
PS ; to trouble shoot a blowing fuse problem I sub a old High beam car headlight with a set of clip leads can pass about 8-10 amps at full brightness but should only light up dull with the draw of just the engine 4-6 amps some people use circuit breakers but you don't know how much draw your getting with them the lite tells you if you have a big draw or not.
My two cent's

[Superdave]

The starter. Take it off and take it to Auto-Zone or someplace. They can hook it up and test it for FREE . You might try a little WD-40 on the starter first. Sounds like the bushings inside may be gummed up or the brushes are worn out.
DAve

[wattalaser]

thanks guy's for the help, today i had the cowl off and tried to start it and saw a small puff of smoke. looking closer i found a naked part of wire that had slowly warn through the outside coating. simple fix, lucky find! thanks again, bryan.....

[BenKeith]

Starter has nothing to do with the control fuse you're blowing, it can't blow that fuse.

You will need isolate if it's the motor or something in the boat blowing it. You might need a schematic so you can tell what wires to disconnect to isolate it. Not a merc person, but I believe that fuse controls everything the that comes on when the key switch is turned on, guages, fuel pump relay, trim pump relays, any accessories like radio etc, motor ecu/electronics. You need to disconnect everything but what it takes just to run the motor and see if it blow then. If it still blows, then you've only got a couple of things that can cause it. If it blows then, turn the key switch on and then start if from the starter relay, don't use key switch, key switch could be going to ground when you turn it all the way to crank position. About the only thing left from there would be the starter relay, (which I've never seen short) wiring, and ecu or ignition module.

[wattalaser]

if you notice the above thread i found the problem. very simple just hard to trace. thanks for everyone's help on this. bryan......

[wattalaser]

this laser boat is for sale if any one is interested. thanks, bryan...

[Forkin' Crazy]

Originally posted by Superdave
The starter. Take it off and take it to Auto-Zone or someplace. They can hook it up and test it for FREE . You might try a little WD-40 on the starter first. Sounds like the bushings inside may be gummed up or the brushes are worn out.
DAve

This is just my opinion and after the fact, but I would not take anything to AutoZone. They have substandard rebuilt parts. If it were me and I had to have it checked, I would take it to a reputable starter/alternator shop.

FC