Just got a 1988 Silverton 37 and clueless

T

tcarriere

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Joined
Aug 27, 2018
RO Number
34076
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VTBoater heard you know something about the Silverton 37. Port side neutral switch not working. Wiring on dash is flaky. Trim tabs do not level boat and horns not working. do you have the generic owner manual? I replaced the starboard starter since I know a little about 45 4 engines in my old truck.
 
I hope you bought a starter made for marine use and not one at your local NAPA.
I assume you bought the boat without a survey.
 
Start at your battery and get eyes on everything electrical all the way to your console components. You COULD isolate the fault simply by resistance, but 1988? 30 year old electrical system in a marine environment - get eyes on every bit of it. Keep in mind current ABYC color codes are slightly different - nowadays negative should be yellow, not black, for example. Bonding should be green or unshielded. If multiple components are flaky, you’re looking at a main or common ground (more likely) corroded away. So, not to Barney it, but you need to focus your search on where bigger wires go into somewhere or something that more smaller wires come out of. That is where your most symptomatic fault will be, but NOT your only one. Proper marine grade wire is tinned copper - copper gets wrecked in short order with intermittent salt and oxygen exposure. Slightest crack in the insulation from an unprotected bulkhead penetration, sharp bend, or UV exposure, or just plain age, and even high end wiring is turning to green dust. And green dust is not nearly as conductive as tinned copper.
 
quote:
Originally posted by cwms

I hope you bought a starter made for marine use and not one at your local NAPA.
I assume you bought the boat without a survey.

Click to expand...

Yes bought a marine starter online with a few customer reviews. The same starter has been living in another boat for 2 years.
 
quote:
Originally posted by November Charlie

Start at your battery and get eyes on everything electrical all the way to your console components. You COULD isolate the fault simply by resistance, but 1988? 30 year old electrical system in a marine environment - get eyes on every bit of it. Keep in mind current ABYC color codes are slightly different - nowadays negative should be yellow, not black, for example. Bonding should be green or unshielded. If multiple components are flaky, you’re looking at a main or common ground (more likely) corroded away. So, not to Barney it, but you need to focus your search on where bigger wires go into somewhere or something that more smaller wires come out of. That is where your most symptomatic fault will be, but NOT your only one. Proper marine grade wire is tinned copper - copper gets wrecked in short order with intermittent salt and oxygen exposure. Slightest crack in the insulation from an unprotected bulkhead penetration, sharp bend, or UV exposure, or just plain age, and even high end wiring is turning to green dust. And green dust is not nearly as conductive as tinned copper.

Click to expand...

Yeah makes no sense to me why the console dash panel is not sealed with rubber gasket and exposed the wires and fuses to the outside weather. The wires behind the console do not look as bad as you would guess. the fuses look the worst but no blown. Been replacing on at a time.
Was going to make a rubber gasket for the dash when all done fixing the wire issues and replacing most of the fuses.
 
quote:
Originally posted by tcarriere

quote:
Originally posted by November Charlie

Start at your battery and get eyes on everything electrical all the way to your console components. You COULD isolate the fault simply by resistance, but 1988? 30 year old electrical system in a marine environment - get eyes on every bit of it. Keep in mind current ABYC color codes are slightly different - nowadays negative should be yellow, not black, for example. Bonding should be green or unshielded. If multiple components are flaky, you’re looking at a main or common ground (more likely) corroded away. So, not to Barney it, but you need to focus your search on where bigger wires go into somewhere or something that more smaller wires come out of. That is where your most symptomatic fault will be, but NOT your only one. Proper marine grade wire is tinned copper - copper gets wrecked in short order with intermittent salt and oxygen exposure. Slightest crack in the insulation from an unprotected bulkhead penetration, sharp bend, or UV exposure, or just plain age, and even high end wiring is turning to green dust. And green dust is not nearly as conductive as tinned copper.

Click to expand...

Yeah makes no sense to me why the console dash panel is not sealed with rubber gasket and exposed the wires and fuses to the outside weather. The wires behind the console do not look as bad as you would guess. the fuses look the worst but no blown. Been replacing on at a time.
Was going to make a rubber gasket for the dash when all done fixing the wire issues and replacing most of the fuses.

Click to expand...


The wire insulation might not look bad, but what does the conductor look like?

May well be perfectly fine, but eyeballing everything from the batteries to the mains to the bulbs in the gauges will likely find your biggest problems. Then (or that failing) take a meter and find your resistive faults.
 
Things have come a long way in 30 years. Don’t try to fix fuse holders, replace the fuses with a modern Blue Seas switch / breaker panel for all DC items like nav lights, horn, courtesy lights, wipers etc. you may spend a little more money now but will save on hassles n the long run

Check the actual conductor inside the wire. Back then few builders used tinned wire. If the copper looks black, it’s corroded and you re going to have big voltage drops
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

Things have come a long way in 30 years. Don’t try to fix fuse holders, replace the fuses with a modern Blue Seas switch / breaker panel for all DC items like nav lights, horn, courtesy lights, wipers etc. you may spend a little more money now but will save on hassles n the long run

Check the actual conductor inside the wire. Back then few builders used tinned wire. If the copper looks black, it’s corroded and you re going to have big voltage drops

Click to expand...


Solid advice right there.
 
I have a 85 silverton 37 I have had it for 31 years and do most of my own repairs. there was no owners manual only the crusader manual the neutral switch issue is do to the lever on the velvet drive water leaks on from end caps of heat exchanger as far as gasket on instrument panel the panel is open in back don't think it would make much difference most of the trim tab units were bennets do the tabs move? the bow does come down with them but there is not that much movement
 
Hey Thomas,
What I learned from my Silverton is there is always another problem or failure around the corner. You have to pick and choose what is important and what is not. And don't do any more than you have to. Any money you put in to this boat is money gone. So my advice is to address the issues that matter to safety and proper operation, trim tabs would be pretty low on my list. I am still stinging from the beating I took on mine, and likely will have trouble giving you unbiased advice. The guys on this site will be better at helping you out than I. Good luck to you.
 
The Mantra on my '89 Carver is: The Only Thing That Works on an Old Boat-is the Owner. The only way I have been able to afford my boat is doing the work myself, but an old boat will keep you very busy. I hope you enjoy DIY. I used to, but age is catching up and the body isn't as resilient as it used to be. Lots of good info on this site.
 
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