I got the boat ready Saturday to start her up for the first time. Been
charging the battery during the winter months. Hooked it up. Raised the
lower unit so I can move her to the driveway. Lowered it back down.
Checked all the fluids. Everything looked good. Put the muffs on and
turned on the water. Turned the Key and nothing. Nothing at all worked.
Radio doesn't come on and the horn doesn't even work. Battery is fully
charged, fuses are fine, kill switch is not engaged. I had a friend of
mine who was working on it so I am not sure which cables he jumped on
the starter/solenoid. When I turn the key there is no power anywhere in
the boat and it doesn't click the starter either. He did a jump at the
starter and got it to turn the motor a little. Then he jumped another
wire and there was power back in the entire boat. Where is my problem?
--------------------
1999 SeaRay 180 Bowrider,
3.0L Merc 135hp I/O
==================================
There should be a cluster of about 6 wires on top of the engine. This
is for breaking away all the connections at one point for removing the
engine from its mounts. Over the winter these connections can corrode
and lose contact. Take some very fine crocus cloth sand paper and clean
up the male connections. Then, roll up some of the paper, making it
into a small tube and clean up into the female connections.
Plug it all back to gether and see if you have power.

Good luck, Norm