Kevin,

I know little about boat wiring so please forgive my ignorance.

My brother has a 22 year old 17′ VIP inboard motor boat with an intermittent electrical problem. The navigation lights and bilge blower were not working.

While we were messing with it we quickly hit the trim switch to lower and raise the motor – immediately the navigation lights and blower started working.
Later, they stopped working and again we hit the trim switch to lower and raise the motor – again the lights and blower started working.

The boat wiring is generally not in good condition. There are splices in the wiring everywhere, but all the connections appear to be okay. The horn and the radio work fine all the time. The battery is good.

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim

Tim,

I would start at the battery and work my way to the components.

The common link between the engine trim, the blower, and the navigation lights is their ground system.

• Clean the battery connections. Replace wing nuts with locking nuts.
• Clean the ground connection on the motor – opposite end of negative battery cable. Ensure all connections are intact.
• Check the connections at the blower and lights to make sure they are intact and making good contact.

This should solve your problem,

Kevin