TOPIC: Attempt to fix

I have a 1969 MFG 170 sprint with a Evinrude 1969 115 115983e I had to undo a bad mess of wires under the dash and now i have not an idea where they go to the ignition and stuff like that I have tach speedo voltmeter fuel guage electric choke the harness has some wires coming from it but not a clue where they go. I could really use some help though. Thanks

best thing to do is get hold of an old manual with wiring diagrams covering your motor. I will have a look at the stack of manuals I have downstairs for a wiring diagram. What color is the plug that is on the boat side (harness side) that connects to your engine along the inside of the motor? It should be black - that was the factory harness plug color. Then, what color are the wires that you have coming out near the controls?

www.maxrules.com/graphics/omc_pics/wiring/69_70_V4.jpg is the best one of the engine...

www.ultimate.com/omc-boats/gallery/hughes/65- is one for a 68 - some colors changed in 1969

and here is another, down along the forum...

forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=273235

and here is the red plug control box - yours has the electric shift with the two extra wires shown in the first link...
www.maxrules.com/graphics/omc_pics/REMCONTBOX.jpg

I will look at the different colors tomorrow. I know there are different color wires. Purple and white a gray wire and a few others. The plug at the motor is black. There is also a plug on the harness that hooks up to the throttle for the different gears. The drive is called hydro electric or something like that. I also just installed a buss bar.

floater for your future reference ,i take pics of the area im working on 1st,so its easier to put back together,i usually number the wires too,if 2 wires go together they get the same # on masking tape,if they attach to a switch or other conecction,i also put a number on it too.
also i try to keep them as together as i can,like with the dash im doing now ,as soon as i pull the switch ,or tach,i put the wires right back on ,and let them hang,i do all this without the battery attached .

Purple, purple/white,red/white,tan,grey,purple/green,green,blue,white,black those are the wire colors in the harness. I have a tach,voltmeter,fuel gauge,speed,choke toggle switch. The fuel has it's own pull switch that has to connections on the back of it. The purple with green, green, and blue hook into a adapter that goes to the electric shift. There is a temp light hookup also. The ignition hooks up to all these wires somehow hopefully that's where someone on here can help me.

It's a huge pic... and hard to figure out because it isn't in color..
Might have to do something about that....

www.raylinrestoration.com/BoatStuff/Technical/1969-1970_115HP_Wiring.jpg

Thats it awesome!!!! Yes thats what I was affraid of. The manual I ordered since being a 1969 probably is not in color. But that helps thanks so much.

I have colorized it now.. but the schematic is unclear for the rectifier and pulse-pack, Your's may be different. You may have to hit "RELOAD" for the color version to show up:
www.raylinrestoration.com/BoatStuff/Technical/1969-1970_115HP_Wiring.jpg

I have also uploaded a 2nd schematic (for an 85HP Selectric) that I found years ago (color)that is more clear- but I'm not 100% sure it applies to your engine.

www.raylinrestoration.com/BoatStuff/Technical/69-70_V4-Wiring.jpg

Between the two- you should be able to figure it out.

ADDED:
Looking at the schematic, here’s where the various colors you mentioned go:

• Purple: Apparently the “hot” wire coming from the IGN terminal of the Ignition Switch- to power various dash elements. When the key is in the “run” position, it should send power to the Terminal Block (for powering other accessories), The CHOKE switch, The TEMP indicator light, And to the BLOCKING DIODE (wherever that is?). There should also be a plain purple wire from the Thermo Switch to the Ignition Safety Circuit- if your boat is so equipped.
• Purple/White: This is the main power wire to your Ignition Switch. It hooks to the BAT terminal. It should be “hot” all the time. I think you said you had a voltmeter- so it may(should) go to that first, and a jumper off the meter to the ignition switch may/may not be the same color.
• Purple/Green- goes from the IGN terminal of the ignition switch to the shift control harness.
• Tan-: This will connect to the 2nd terminal on the temperature indicator light on the dash. It comes from the temperature sending unit mounted on your engine. When the engine gets too hot, it provides a “ground” through the sender- and your light should glow.
• Red: Most of the red wires are clustered around the Starter Solenoid. Red is almost always a “constant-hot” wire. Which means, even when the key is off, the wire has power on it. If you have red wires under the dash, or on the Ignition switch…. Most likely they power things like lights, bilge-pump, etc… that aren’t normally in the engine-control wiring harness. You’ll have to use a test-light or meter to find where they go- and what they do.
• Grey: This is the tachometer lead from the distributor through the terminal block.


Ray

You have been so helpful. The back of the ignition has B,M,I,S and one other now that must be for the magneto how exactly does that work with the wiring.

B= Battery- This should be a LARGE Red or Purple wire from your voltmeter.
M= Magneto- this wire should be black w/yellow tracer. You may have a 2nd M terminal that has a black wire that goes to ground. This is effectively a "kill switch".
S= Starter- This should be a white wire (or yel/red)that goes to the starter solenoid.
I= IGN- this should be the "key-on...power" terminal for your engine accessories- that the purple wires hook to.
C= Choke (if so equipped)

I just got to wondering- do you have a VOLTMETER or an AMPMETER?
They hook up differently...You mentioned Voltmeter... so the large power wire will NOT go through the Voltmeter first...It will connect directly to the ignition switch "B" terminal... and a smaller wire will go TO the Voltmeter from the same terminal.

Thats exactly what I have on the back of the ignition. I do have a choke toggle switch. As far as the guage thing I dont really know the difference. Lighting bolt on it, also has a + and - on it. Sorry I dont know to much about it. When I first got the boat it started right up and everything worked. Its just with all the exposed wires and everything I was affraid of fire or something. Water and electric are not good friends LOL! I was going to take pictures when i first started but with wires in a big mess I would not of been able to make heads from tails with anything. My boat seems to be different from alot of other MFGs. I have spotlights on it. A huge fuel tank. Rails that go around the front about twelve inches high. what looks like racing stripes or something. Actually to look at it kind of puts me in the mind of a police boat. Its got things on it like no other. I wish I could put pictures on here not to sure how. They are on my facebook but thats easy to do. I also have a fuel switch that when pulled I guess that sends power to the fuel pump. And somehow goes to fuel guage also. Black wire running from flange on tank which is ground but not to sure where that should ground back to.

" As far as the guage thing I dont really know the difference. Lighting bolt on it, also has a + and - on it. Sorry I dont know to much about it."

If it has a +/- then it's more likely to be an ammeter. A voltmeter would have numbers from 10-18 volts or so on it.

The gas-tank ground can go to any common ground- such as the ground for your stern-light, But anywhere that leads back to the "-" post of the battery will do.

Pictures just need to be hosted somewhere- facebook, personal website, or any of the free photo-hosting sites.
I think there's a standard photo-posting FAQ on this site somewhere, that will tell you how to post in the forums. I didn't post the diagrams here because they are HUGE!

You can post your pics directly on this site, but they have to be under the maximum size. Try this thread from the support column, it's got some good info on pic down-sizing.

www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/support/pic-sizing

Also, to post multiple pics in one post you put the first pic in and make the post. Then immediately "edit" the post to add another. This can be done as many times as you would like.

Here is a simple dash gage layout.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

here is a pic of my boat, i posted others on my profile.