Bilge pump switch lights always on?

[Carverlvr2]

Bud37, thank you for clarifying. I get your point now. You’re right, the brown wires have tags but not the yellow or blue ones and they’re thinner gauge too. If anyone has a similar early 2000’s, I’d love a pic of their wiring for comparison. See what’s actually factory. But again, the blower and other switches are all wired exactly the same and they work as expected. In the wider shot with the whole bank of switched in view, you’ll see on the very left edge there’s a white and a yellow coming in and they’re labeled..they’re the lights and dimmer wires that all the rest are tagged on to. So they should all work the same. That’s where I’m thinking Viper is right and one (or more) of the pumps or switches are causing the lights to be on.

[Viper]

I can't remember how those switch indicators are set up so let's clarify something first; there are 2 indicator lights on each switch which would be one indicator for the instrument light circuit that comes on when you turn on your gauge lights (night running), and the other indicator is to indicate when a pump circuit is active, correct? I'm going to assume the top indicator is the night running one (writing on it) and the bottom indicator that's always on is the pump circuit indicator. Is this correct?

Your second pic shows the switches in a different position than the first. I take it the ON position is when you push in the upper part of the switch, correct?

[Carverlvr2]

Viper, yes on all counts! The top portion of the switches lights up when I turn up the dimmer for all dash lights. The bottom half (red line) I believe should only light up when a pump turns on or if that switch is pushed up but is instead lit constantly and does not matter what position the switch is in.

[km1125]

Need better pictures of the back and clarification on this part: "The yellow wires are the illumination and the blue are the dimmer. If I disconnect either, the BP switch lights go out but also don’t light up when actually switched on."

Are you sure that the yellow is not just the ground circuit for the illumination (both dash light and indicators)? That would mean that both lights would not illuminate if you disconnect the yellow, and that's how they're normally configured. It doesn't make sense though if by disconnecting the blue wire that the "BP on" light is affected, but only should be the switch illumination light.

I'm thinking that the wires on terminals #2 and #3 might just be swapped but I'd want to see a better pic of exactly how it's connected before I would commit to that.

[bud37]

I agree, the run light seem to be getting power before the switch is closed for some reason.

[Carverlvr2]

Yes, the main Yellow coming in on the top that all the other yellows are daisy chained to is indeed labeled Gnd. I’ll get better pix next time I’m out there. More I look at these pix, more I see your points that it may have been re wired at some point, just a clean job of it.

[Viper]

I'm thinking the switches are hooked up correctly. If we look at the pic showing the wiring, we can see that the blower switch which seems to be working properly indicator wise, is the same type of switch as the bilge pump switches from what I can see. If that's the case, it looks like they are wired the same but worth checking just in case. It could also be that they're wired correctly at the switches but wired incorrectly elsewhere in the circuit. There should be a connector in that harness somewhere; behind the dash, in the main race, under a bench, in a cupboard, etc. It's worth finding that connector as it's not uncommon for them to be the source of gremlins due to corrosion of the contacts, loose plug pins, pins pulling out, poor connections, etc.

[Carverlvr2]

Possible clue? I just dug through some manuals I found in the boat and came across this VolvoPenta Seakey install book and this pic caught my attention. All the bilge pump switches and high water alarms go through this Seakey. Anyone know anything about it? From what I can see, it was a service based device for remotely monitoring your boat? And no longer exists? Would a fault or even lack of service to it possibly cause my lights issue?

[Carverlvr2]

lol. AND I also realized the old clarion controller stays lit along with the Seakey pad! The clarion isn’t connected to the radio anymore but it’s getting dash light power from somewhere!! Can’t wait to get in that dash and disconnect both and see if that’s been the issue all along.

[Carverlvr2]

Update: disconnected both the Clarion remote pad and the SeaKey pad but the bilge switches stay lit. Also found the Aft switch seems to activate the mid pump and previous owner had two bilge pumps new in box so someone has been into this wiring on one end or the other..or both. If I disconnect either brown wire the light for that switch goes out. Next time I’m out there I’ll look closer at each pump.