A Boat Engine Wiring Job You Can't Believe

I have no clue where to even start on this. I am beyond flabbergasted, shocked and dismayed. I don’t know the right word in the English Vocabulary of what word to use regarding this bastardized wiring job or so-called attempt to wire an engine on a Volvo engine I got this week.

In all my years of automotive and marine wiring, I have never seen anything like it. This one takes my breath away with the pure shock of the workmanship or lack thereof.

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This is so wrong on so many levels.

1. The original marine fuel pump has been bypassed, and an automotive electric fuel pump has been installed. It is also laid on top of the battery by the battery post, which could short out and explode because of possible leaks from the fuel lines and fuel vapors inside the dog house.

2. The automotive fuel lines are not Coast Guard-approved. If there was a fire, and there is a very good chance that it would happen, the fire would burn through the automotive fuel lines very quickly and cause the boat to catch fire and explode.

3. Non-shielding wiring is going to the fuel pump.

4. There's no safety oil pressure switch for the fuel pump. In essence, when you turn the ignition switch to the on position, the fuel pump will run continuously. If there was an explosion or fire, the engine would die, but as long as the ignition switch was on, the fuel pump would stay on and feed raw gas to the flame until it quit working. 

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5. With an oil pressure safety switch, the oil pressure is no longer sensed at the switch and turns off the 12-volt reference signal to the fuel pump when the engine dies. This was not installed.

6. The battery by the engine is not secured with a proper battery box or hold-downs. Making contact with the wiring against the engine will more than likely short out. This could cause a spark and ignite fuel vapors in the dog house, causing the boat to explode.

7. Unshielded wiring throughout the engine, when not appropriately routed, would likely have caused a short and a spark, igniting fuel vapors and exploding in the dog house.

8. The ignition coil was laid in place and not secured. It could come loose, fall, ground out against the engine, cause a spark, ignite the fuel vapors and blow up the boat.

9. The original Coast Guard fuel lines, hoses going to the tank, and vapor lines were all cracked and rotted and needed to be replaced. Again, this can cause a fuel leak or leak of fuel vapors from the rotten and cracked hoses, which can cause an explosion and blow up the boat.

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The customer was trying to wire this to get it running so he could take his four grandkids out on the lake. Thank God he could never get it running and go out with the kids.

I'm glad he brought it to me. I told him the boat wasn’t safe and I wasn’t going to work on it.  Forget even the basics of a boat safety course, this was a disaster.  I told him it was incredibly dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. He understood and went looking for another boat.

Roger Hockemier

Performance Tech

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