I had my Tracker stored for the winter and a pack rat moved in! He decided that the Wire /Steering/throttle cable Routing tube (3 inch PVC pipe) for the wiring harness on the right drivers side of the boat was a perfect place to make the winter. I had disconnected the main battery & charged for winter.
He chewed thru the main Mercury wiring cable, big black one, heavy outer sheath and gnawed the insulation off several wires: the purple, green white stripe, blue white stripe, Black. I repaired the wires thought I had it fixed. Hooked up the motor ground and the power trim came on and ran the motor all the way up!. Disconnected immediately! Isolated, disconnected, the rear trim switch, all three terminals, Grn, Bl & PPL. Touched the ground & it still continued to take motor up! Gotta be another short, right? Snaked the main cable out of the tube from the rear, has about six feet of slack in it, and found another bare spot 2 ft in the tube further up. Repaired it. Pulled cable out from the front, no other gnawings! Connected ground again, STILL tries to go up! Disconnected the 5 prong plug to control handle. No Help!
The rear trim switch wires are routed separately thrus a flexible protector thru the tube, then under the drivers seat in the storage box, then thru the side, the out to the console fuse panel. Have checked them all for continuity with an ohmmeter, no shorts. When the small black wire is hooked to battery with everything OFF, it is still drawing current!
Have not opened control handle. Everything under the motor cowl is good. Relays, wires, fuses, etc.
Where else could the shorted wires be????
He chewed thru the main Mercury wiring cable, big black one, heavy outer sheath and gnawed the insulation off several wires: the purple, green white stripe, blue white stripe, Black. I repaired the wires thought I had it fixed. Hooked up the motor ground and the power trim came on and ran the motor all the way up!. Disconnected immediately! Isolated, disconnected, the rear trim switch, all three terminals, Grn, Bl & PPL. Touched the ground & it still continued to take motor up! Gotta be another short, right? Snaked the main cable out of the tube from the rear, has about six feet of slack in it, and found another bare spot 2 ft in the tube further up. Repaired it. Pulled cable out from the front, no other gnawings! Connected ground again, STILL tries to go up! Disconnected the 5 prong plug to control handle. No Help!
The rear trim switch wires are routed separately thrus a flexible protector thru the tube, then under the drivers seat in the storage box, then thru the side, the out to the console fuse panel. Have checked them all for continuity with an ohmmeter, no shorts. When the small black wire is hooked to battery with everything OFF, it is still drawing current!
Have not opened control handle. Everything under the motor cowl is good. Relays, wires, fuses, etc.
Where else could the shorted wires be????