The Boating Forum - Grady White -Running Lights not Working

I have a 265 Express. Anchor light is working fine but the running lights are both out. Where should I start? ( yes both bulbs are fine)

check for power at fuse and switch then at the fixture it self ....start with fuse ...John

If it's wired like my '85 Grady, both the anchor light and running lights use the same fuse and the switch is a double pole/double throw. So, if the anchor light comes on, the fuse is good. I would look first at the switch to see if any wires have come loose or are corroded. Check the light bulb terminals for corrosion and clean if necessary. Bust out your voltmeter and see if you get power to the terminals as John said.

But if it is wired differently, as in separate circuits for the nav and anchor lights (which wouldn't make any sense to me), do as John said and check the fuse first.

Good luck.

Brian
1985 Grady White 204 Center Console
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bmille4/sirreel/index.html

jtburf....thx for the reply but there is no fuse...there is a breaker and it is fine.

go with gw's reply could be simple wire or even switch ....John

thx guys

at some point you have to stop throwing good money after bad. might be best to just junk the boat., ill come drag it out of there for you.

I actually just gave up trying to find the problem, and ran new wire and lights. worked great on a 13 year old boat. may not make sense for you though.

good luck

Chris
1801 Parker

I just had the exact problem on my boat. I found that the bulb sockets had corroded. I tried to clean them but that didn't work, so went to get new sockets...easier said then done on an old boat. Anyhow, replaced the sockets and made sure the fuse was good and whamo, I have lights.

When you reinstall the bulbs, coat the contacts w/ dilectric grease. It will protect the contacts from corrosion. Make sure it is dilectric (non-conductive) and not a conductive grease such as GB OX-Guard. Get the latter and you will have problems.

Brian
1985 Grady White 204 Center Console
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~bmille4/sirreel/index.html

Is the old wiring tinned wire? If not that could be the source of the problem. The idea of rewiring has always been my method for repair. Do it once and do it right. It takes to much time to trouble shoot and you are sure you have the problem solved by rewiring.

One of my forward lights (Perko) intermintely failed, then quit altogeather. Perko left too large a bead of solder on one of the connections. It would heat up, swell up and short against the fixture. http://thehulltruth.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

Pursuit 2470, Twin Yam 150's