www.iFourWinns.com

i've got a 298 vista; my problem is i'm not getting enough power to my horn, so i want to rewire it with heavier gauge wire. my problem is i cannot seem to snake the wiring to the console from the deck area. has anyone done this? any tips? my dealer told me they lay the wiring down, then put the deck down on top of this. any other alternatives? mounting horn in different location?

Are you sure you have a wire size problem vs. say a faulty connection or a defective horn? I would run some temporary wire to test the horn as a first step. This could be as simple as a corroded ground connection.

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Martin
04 268 Vista - Knot Again
08 Boston Whaler 130 Sport - Double Good
Previous Boat:
97 278 Vista - Buoy Howdy

i've checked wires, etc. even going directly to horn switch, with new horn, won't work. i ran a larger wire to switch, horn works fine.

I too have a 298 with same problem. There is one wire that needs to be upgraded (heavier gauge) from the switch in the dash to the fuse in the breaker panel. I would use 10-12 gauge wire. I spent hours trouble shooting a simple circuit. The present power wire does not allow the current needed to drive the dual trumpet horn. As for running the wire, I hope to do this in the next week or so but from my initial investigation, there is no simple path.

Let me know if you find a means to route the wire. Thanks!

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2002 Vista 298 VP 5.0Gxi

If the +12V supply wire from the switch is too thin, the ground one probably is as well !

Is there any easy way you could get heavier +12v and ground wire to the horn area from anywhere else close by? If so, you could just use the existing thin wires to energise a relay close to the hon and connect the heavier gauge +ve to to one of the contact terminals on the relay. The other contact on the relay to the horn, and the ground directly to the horn. Clearly, you'd need to fit a fuse somewhere.

Graham