Carver Owners Forum

I’ve got a 1984 Carver Mariner twin crusader engines 220’s
Last year my starboard engine would cut out every now and then but it would restart this year when I went to start it I had no power to the ignition. I diagnosed it and thought that the solenoid was gone so I replaced it and the problem was fixed. But when I put it in the water the engine ran fine for about five minutes and then died and would not restart. When I turn the key the red light for my V Dr. does not light up on that side where is the port side does… So that’s telling me I have no power to the ignition… Anybody have any suggestions… Please I’m stumped

Start simple. Is the neutral safety switch closed?

I wiggled the transmission shifter is to see if there was a loose connection it doesn’t matter what I do I can’t get power to the starboard engine when I turn the key on so that means that the light for the V Dr. does not come on either nothing whatsoever... no clicking no nothing

Do you have a fuse in the panel near the key? My boat of similar vintage did and the power to the key went through that fuse.

Clarify what "doesn't work". Do your gauges move when to turn the key to ignition? Or do they move but your engine just won't crank? (a neutral safety switch affects the starter circuit but not the ignition circuit). There is also a breaker on the engine that could have corroded or loose connections and could cause the same loss of power to the key.

Ya so many possibilities here, even the ignition switch is suspect. You can hotwire the run terminal and see if your gauges light up or the start terminal and see if she turns over.

I have no power at all to the ignition switch unless I jump the wires on the solenoid … The only fuse that I can find is the 50 amp breaker that’s above the Solenoid that’s beside the starter it seems to be fine
I did have the engine running but after it warmed up it died... sometimes it would restart sometimes not and then there was absolutely nothing. I took the starter off and took it into a shop to have it tested put a new solenoid on the starter just because I already had an off put the starter back on and the same thing no power to ignition switch. Also had my ignition solenoid checked and it was fine. Is there a separate ignition fuse somewhere that I need to check and where would I find it. Both my batteries are fully charged and pass a load test with flying colours. The only way I see power to my ignition is when I use a jumper wire on the Solenoid.

Where would I find the neutral safety switch and if it is faulty would it cause no power at all to the ignition not even the light for the V Dr. lighting up

The neutral safety switch or circuit will not cause a loss of power to your ignition switch. It will only prevent the engine from cranking.

Post a picture of your dash. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a fuse mounted somewhere that you didn't even realize was there. I think it took me a year before I realized I had fuses there. There's either a breaker or a fuse in that circuit from the battery. That's separate from the big red breaker on the engine.

What size is your Mariner ?