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1998 Dauntless nav lights
adrianmorrismd	#1  Posted on 07/31/14 - 7:02 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	i have power at my nav light switch with a tester but at the bow and stern lights no power what should i do next i am a novice at electrical work thanks Edited by Joe Kriz on 08/06/14 - 12:24 PM
gchuba	#2  Posted on 07/31/14 - 7:32 AM
Member Posts: 1675 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/31/13	One good test a "continuity tester". It is a tool that makes a buzzing noise when a wiring connection is complete. You can test the switch by placing the probes on either side of the switches wire connections. It should buzz in the "on" position. If it does buzz, do the same thing with the wire going to the lights themselves. You would need an additional length of wire with alligator clips that reach from the switch to the lights. This test will tell you if the wires are good. You can do this same test at the ground wire. I would start at the ground connections and the switch. Complete loss of use would probably be a bad ground or a bad switch. I would check and clean all the wire connections before anything but, this is a simple test for beginners. Garris
adrianmorrismd	#3  Posted on 07/31/14 - 7:43 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	thanks a lot i will try this
johnsross3	#4  Posted on 07/31/14 - 7:51 AM
Member Posts: 1 Comments: 0 Joined: 10/21/12	I'm not sure what size Dauntless you have (mine is a 2002 18') and I had a similar issue. On my Dauntless, there is a circuit breaker panel inside the console and one of the breakers is for the navigation lights. Check to see that it hasn't tripped. Also inside my console is a wiring block where all the circuits are wired. I took all of the wires off, cleaned the terminals and the wiring block with a small wire brush and recoated everything with a light coating of dielectric grease (to prevent corrosion). Unless your wiring system has been molested, and your bulbs are good, usually the problem can be traced to a bad or corroded connection.
adrianmorrismd	#5  Posted on 07/31/14 - 7:58 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	i will look but i think when they put my new motor in the wires were removed fromthe two accessory switches do you think this would affect it? the courtesy light works its a 1997 dauntless 18 the breakers are inside? or are they the rubber thing on the console? Thanks ill take another look at it and clean every thing the switches have little red lights on them that dont seem to work
gchuba	#6  Posted on 07/31/14 - 8:11 AM
Member Posts: 1675 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/31/13	Motor wiring is completely severed from the accessory wiring. Two separate systems. You should familiarize yourself with your wiring. First locate your breaker (probably 30 amp if you have one) which would be the first "electrical line of defense" from your battery. That would shut off your fuse panel. The fuse panel would service the switches. You might also have a bilge pump that is always "hot" with an inline fuse and you should know where that fuse is located. You should know where all are and carry spare fuses accordingly. If your switch has "juice" the hot leads going to it are intact. Looks like it is a grounding issue. Ground wires are generally black but they have been introducing yellow for ground. Garris Edited by gchuba on 07/31/14 - 8:15 AM
gary0319	#7  Posted on 07/31/14 - 8:25 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 218 Comments: 0 Joined: 08/25/12	I currently have a similar problem on my 1998 Dauntless. The indicator lights on the nav. switch light up, but the bow and stern lights do not. Bulbs look good, but a multi-tester shows only 6 volts to the bow light and 3 volts to the stern. I'm clueless when it come to this electrical stuff so I'm having my mechanic take a look at it. I'll let everyone know what turns up. Gary 1998 Dauntless 15 - 1998 Mercury 60
adrianmorrismd	#8  Posted on 07/31/14 - 9:35 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	thanks for your help is the fuse box located in the pedestal ?
gchuba	#9  Posted on 07/31/14 - 9:58 AM
Member Posts: 1675 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/31/13	I am not familiar with the Dauntless. Some boats have fuses/circuit breakers in the dash panel by the switches. You should really trace your wires from the battery and record/understand the schematic. Any number of ways for circuitry and hard to diagnose without seeing. Garris
Joe Kriz	#10  Posted on 07/31/14 - 12:22 PM
Site Owner Personal Page Personal Album Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 11430 Comments: 452 Joined: 03/18/05	Are you positive this is a 1997 year model? What are the last 2 digits of your HIN number? http://www.whalercentral.com/articles...cle_id=103 or are you sure this is 18' model? Does it look like this? http://www.whalercentral.com/userphot...lbum_id=82 or does it look like this? http://www.whalercentral.com/infusion...r_id=30338
adrianmorrismd	#11  Posted on 07/31/14 - 12:25 PM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	its the center console i dont have the hull number with me
Joe Kriz	#12  Posted on 07/31/14 - 12:32 PM
Site Owner Personal Page Personal Album Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 11430 Comments: 452 Joined: 03/18/05	Most likely a 1998 model then but will wait to hear back from you. Thanks. Sometimes this little details will help as things can change from year to year.
adrianmorrismd	#13  Posted on 07/31/14 - 12:42 PM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	let me check could be 1998 wont be back to the marina for a few days thanks Edited by Joe Kriz on 08/06/14 - 12:23 PM
gary0319	#14  Posted on 08/06/14 - 9:28 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 218 Comments: 0 Joined: 08/25/12	Just a quick follow up on my post above. My nav. lights issue turned out to be a bad ground connection at the point where the main lead from the console enters the hull at the starboard rear quarter. We're all lit up now........ Gary 1998 Dauntless 15 - 1998 Mercury 60
adrianmorrismd	#15  Posted on 08/06/14 - 10:36 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/31/14	thanks for your help everyone turned out i did not have the grounds hooked to the battery and now all is ok Its a 1998 Dauntless (EDIT: please follow guideline #1 on the front page and use the full 4 digit year) Edited by Joe Kriz on 08/06/14 - 12:22 PM
skyflytin	#16  Posted on 11/24/14 - 3:27 AM
Member Posts: 1 Comments: 0 Joined: 11/24/14	To start out sorry for my stupidity as I am a female 13' '98 dauntless owner. Should the front nav lights and the stern white light both be on? I put up the stern white light pole and pressed the switch and both lights came on. As i was ready to leave (after sun went down), I could only get one of the two lights to turn on. Either I had the nav lights working or the stern white light on. I couldn't get both working at the same time as they were both working when putting up stern light??? I kept removing and replacing the stern white pole without any results. I have the black rubber switches in my center console. When I press the black switch on top the nav lights come on and if I press the switch down the stern lights come on and if I press switch in middle it turns of wether light. And what would the other black rubber switch do? A noise from the back of the boat came on and it scared me so I turned that switch off. I can't find any of these questions and answers in the owner's manual. thanks in advance for any help and I hope I was able to give you a good lil laugh of my lack of knowledge of my boston whaler. I'm trying to learn everything I can about my boat and stop relying on my neighbor to fix everything....lol
gchuba	#17  Posted on 11/24/14 - 8:05 AM
Member Posts: 1675 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/31/13	First, asking questions is not gender specific to knowledge or boating skills. Navigation light switches on boats generally have 3 positions: OFF-Function A-Function A and B. The A function position would be a mooring light. It would light the boat when anchored and be above the boat (your plug in light). The second (A and B) position would be navigation lights (B, red and green) coming on with the original A light coming on. You use that position when under power. When anchored you should not have your red and green navigation lights on because it tells other boaters the wrong message. Having the light switch act differently in different positions is correct. The switch that made noise may have turned on a bilge pump for emptying water. You should probably really scour and study the boat when on dry land and locate wiring, fuses, functions, etc.. to relieve the stress of of an issue while in the water. Flip all the switches, open the hatches and the like. I see you just joined. Welcome. Garris ps, I was just thinking about the issue. If the stern light comes on in one position (always working in that switch position) but does not come on when the navigation lights come on. My immediate guess is an issue with the switch. There are usually only three connection terminals on the switch. Battery, terminal A, terminal B (both A and B). There may be an odd chance that another wire for the stern light was attached to the B (both A and B) terminal on the switch that got loose but, very clumsy wiring for something that could be self contained. Edited by gchuba on 11/24/14 - 10:24 AM
bginty	#18  Posted on 06/15/15 - 9:28 AM
Member Posts: 9 Comments: 0 Joined: 04/11/15	adrianmorrismd wrote: thanks for your help everyone turned out i did not have the grounds hooked to the battery and now all is ok Its a 1998 Dauntless (EDIT: please follow guideline #1 on the front page and use the full 4 digit year) How easy was it to find the bad "ground"? I had switches that worked and now do not...
dauntless-n-miami	#19  Posted on 06/16/15 - 7:30 AM
Member Personal Page Project Albums Posts: 315 Comments: 0 Joined: 11/05/08	Hello to all, glad to hear it was a simple ground lead problem for the original post. Regarding Gary0319's 1998 Dauntless 15, Gary you may want to inspect underneath your Anchor light mast deck plug (Starboard side gunnel). Your Bow light wiring runs within the rub-rail moulding and enters the hull just below that area. I uncovered a wiring mess sometime back within the cavity that was causing issues with my lighting along with the small hole where the wire lead enters not being sealed properly from water intrussion. The same condition exists for our Bow light wire lead and where it enters the hull. Food for thought... Angel M. 1996 Dauntless 15, Sportsman Pkg. - 2007 Yamaha 90 HP 2-Stroke