nickfishbait

Thanks All! The main harness did in fact come apart - the main harness in the rear of the engine actually fell out and behind the motor - never saw it!! Engine starts and runs as it did before, great! Gauges are working fine now as well. My guess is if the harness was that loose, none of the connections were solid so the gauges could never get a good reading. Still working on a re-wire job thru the winter tho Thanks! Nick

Ahhhh .. you know what, i tried the blower and it didnt work as well. As well as some courtesy lights. I definitely need to either re-wire the entire boat or the main runs when I have the time. I'm hearing that the jumpy gauges can be caused by a bad alternator ... mainly the regulator. Can that be a contributing factor? Where can I get a new alternator for this motor? Are rebuilts acceptable? Thanks! Nick

Boat is a 1989 Chris Craft 254 Sea Hawk. Engine is a 2004 Volvo Penta 5.7 GS with a DuoProp outdrive. A little history - The gauges (new, aftermarket, previous owner install) were acting a little weird the last time I took her out. The temp, oil, voltage gauges do not give a steady read ("jumpy") when the boat is under way but gives what seems to be a steady reading when at rest. When a high draw utility is used like the engine tilt or trim tabs, the voltage, temp and oil gauges "jump" for the time the high draw is occuring. Then back to normal. Not sure if this has anything to do with the next issue but I need to correct the gauge problem as well. Today's problem happened after running about 10 miles from the dock. The boat ran great, so it seemed. Then without warning, a backfire sound came from the engine and she stuttered, then died. Immediately we thought she overheated but we immediately opened the engine hatch and noticed the risers, valve covers, etc were cool to the touch. When I tried to start it, I don't hear the starting warning buzzer when the ignition key is turned and nothing else is heard at the engine. All other accessories are working (lights, vhf, gps, etc..). Tried jiggling the controls thinking the shift button might of been an issue, nothing. The main breakers on the engine didnt pop either. Engine oil is fine as well. The boat has less than 10 hours on her for this season and the engine has less than 75 hours total (not that that mean much at all). Tow Boat to the rescue. Any help is appreciated to give me a heads up to try to correct the issue myself. If not its off to hire a mechanic and dump more money into the hole in the water. Thanks! Nick

I need to replace the throttle controls on my 1989 Chris Craft 254 SeaHawk. They are the original OMC controls. The boat has a brand new Volvo Penta DuoProp Engine/Outdrive but the previous owner didnt replace the controls with the install. How difficult is it to replace the controls and do I need to worry about buying specific controls for the Volvo engine? Also, (stupid question) do I have to remove the old equipment before knowing what length, etc. I need to replace with or is there a way to gauge this before starting the project? Thanks! Nick