1991 Bass Tracker Pro 17 elec wiring

[NASA1]

Hello everyone,

I have a bit of an issue. I have inherited a 1991 Bass Tracker Pro 17 with the 40 hp Tracker Mercury Marine in really good overall mechanical shape but it has some electrical issues just on the boat itself. I was wondering if anyone has access to a wiring diagram or owners manual? Don't let my forum name fool you, I am a retired federal officer/special agent and not a rocket scientist, so any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[MrGiggles]

I doubt you would ever find a wiring diagram.

There really was not much to it on my 84. I'd say yours is pretty similar. There was a small harness that ran from the bilge to the console, with wires for the bilge, aerator, and nav lights, and two larger power/ground feed wires that went right to the battery. They terminated at an old glass fuse panel and a ground buss bar in the console.

If the wiring harness is mostly intact, check the wire colors at the bilge and fresh water pump, they should be the same color at the console. Same with the lighting.

The outboard harness ran along side it, but was in a separate loom and pretty much separate altogether.

There were also wires that ran to the bow, two heavier wires for the trolling motor plug, and a 3 conductor harness for the tilt/trim switch.

If in doubt, you can always get a multimeter and run continuity tests to figure out which wire goes where.

 

[NASA1]

Thanks for the reply, yeah I am finding out that it is pretty simple the more I look into the thing. It's a little tight in spots but I am just gonna pull up the deck some to check it all out.

Just finding too many wires cut and hanging right now and the main power or ground is out for the trolling motor. But that one seems very simple. The tilt/trim on the bow works for the up but not for the down.

The house battery was gone and the wires doubled up on the motor battery also which could help kill it all pretty quick when trolling, but with a little time and beer I can get it back to working great.

Overall the boat is in great shape for the age, just had an owner who knew less than me when it comes to electrical stuff. Can't be too hard but was just hoping for a short cut.

 

[MrGiggles]

Thanks for the reply, yeah I am finding out that it is pretty simple the more I look into the thing. It's a little tight in spots but I am just gonna pull up the deck some to check it all out.

Just finding too many wires cut and hanging right now and the main power or ground is out for the trolling motor. But that one seems very simple. The tilt/trim on the bow works for the up but not for the down.

The house battery was gone and the wires doubled up on the motor battery also which could help kill it all pretty quick when trolling, but with a little time and beer I can get it back to working great.

Overall the boat is in great shape for the age, just had an owner who knew less than me when it comes to electrical stuff. Can't be too hard but was just hoping for a short cut.

I'm not totally sure how these boats were set up from the factory, if they had 2 batteries in the rear, one for cranking, and another for the trolling motor and electronics, or just one for everything. I have dedicated trolling batteries up front and run all the electronics off the cranking battery.

If you plan on making multi-day trips where you won't have access to a charger, then a house battery may be a good idea. Will keep the graphs and pumps from running down the cranking battery.

 

[DaleH]

OB trim works through relays so switch them on the OB power panel (under the cover) and if it now works the other way, the relay is bad.

Whoops ... just read it more closely, you said the trim switch at the bow? Usually trim is wired in 2 colors, green for ‘grass’ or DOWN and blue for the ‘sky’ or UP, if they followed typical convention.

 

[kofkorn]

I actually emailed Tracker a number of years back when I was redoing my '89 Pro17.

They were really awesome and sent back full diagrams along with the orginal brochures for the boat. They may not be identical to yours, but I'm sure they aren't far off

Good luck!

 

[NASA1]

I actually emailed Tracker a number of years back when I was redoing my '89 Pro17.

They were really awesome and sent back full diagrams along with the orginal brochures for the boat. They may not be identical to yours, but I'm sure they aren't far off

Good luck!

This is great!!!! Thanks a lot!!

 

[NASA1]

I actually emailed Tracker a number of years back when I was redoing my '89 Pro17.

They were really awesome and sent back full diagrams along with the orginal brochures for the boat. They may not be identical to yours, but I'm sure they aren't far off

Good luck!

That was a great idea. I contacted them at the main office in MO and they sent them right out to me. Everything that I needed! Brochures also.