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I have a 1982 Montauk 17' that had the original 90hp Evinrude motor on it. I am replacing it with a 1999 Johnson 90hp and would like to move the battery to the center console. The Johnson has a 7 foot OMC battery cable on it that is 4 gauge (I think). I measured the length to the center console and 14 ft. should be adequate - I plan on purchasing a 14 foot length. My question is with a battery cable at 14 ft. the recommended size wire is 2 gauge (after 10 ft. the recommendation is 2 gauge), but I don't thing the 2 gauge wire will fit into the opening the cable has to pass through into the motor. Has anybody used 4 gauge battery cable when moving to the center console? Have they hade any problems with their motor using the 4 gauge over a 10 ft. length?

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I did the same project with a Yamaha F115.

The OEM wires were 4 AWG duplex (two together) in a rectangular shape. They fit in a large round engine grommet that had cutouts for each wire/harness.

To get the 2 AWG wire into the engine rigging grommet, I removed the grommet and cut out the rubber openings to fit the two round battery cables.

I would try working on the grommet before changing wire sizes.

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Thanks, will take another look at the motor opening.

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Another option, which I did on my Montauk when moving the battery to the console, which had an older Mercury, now new Yamaha F70, was to put a Blue Sea dual power post mounted on the splashwell. The existing 4awg from the motor went to the power post without modification, new 2 awg was run to console for battery:

http://www.bluesea.com/products/categ..._PowerPost

I had to do this if I wanted 2 awg as my old Merc simply did not have enough space in the rigging hole for 2 awg.

My understanding is in the 90's the classic Montauk had batteries mounted in the console rather than the stern from the dealer. It was common to use a similar post mounted to splashwell to allow larger wire up to a point roughly where the stern battery would have been, then shorter smaller gauge to motor.

I have had this setup for 3 years and it has worked great. I have just purchased a charging kit for my kicker, with the post in the rear I can simply use the provided battery cable with rings to tie to that post rather than buying and tieing in a longer larger gauge wire up to console again.

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I did the same as jharrell and used the BEP studs below. They make a single and dual post. This allows you to use a much thicker cable from the battery to the posts, minimizing voltage drop across the large cables and supplying full power at the post connection point to the engine cables,

http://www.boatbandit.com/bep-702-2s-...11486.aspx

http://www.boatbandit.com/bep-702-sin...11485.aspx

Should also mention to liberally coat each of the connections with marine grease before putting the covers on, esp in salt water, to prevent corrosion.

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I started out with 2 gauge and switched to 4 gauge. The 2 gauge wouldn't fit into motor.
No problems.

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Adding a post like that just adds another point of failure. I ran 4 gauge from my console direct to my 90, solder and heat shrink the connections and I have no issues. I'm not sure about the cable length but if you think you'll need 14' you should order 15' and cut it to size if needed.

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x3

I also did the same. 2AWG from console to powerposts in the splashwell, on which the OEM 4AWG engine cables are connected. Work great.