2001 F50 - Shorted Battery Terminal, Now Won't Crank

[hogaboomer]

I need some help here, I am not a mechanic by any measure, I'm a welder. I was working on my brother's trailer, putting some guiding rails on. I had a carpenter square back by the battery, and it got knocked onto the battery terminal and shorted out with the boat itself. Big spark and smoke. I was also working in the 703 control box at the same time, had to change out a broken lock plate, and lube up the cables a bit. Not sure if I futzed something in there or not.
Anyway, still have power to the trim and tilt, but nothing when I turn the key. I'm hoping it's a fuse, but I can't seem to locate it. Where should I start? Some of these motors have a fuse block, but I didn't see one.

[robert graham]

There should be a fuse under the cowling inside a black rubber in - line fuse holder….probably 20 amps

[hogaboomer]

I saw that one, it was OK. I thought maybe there were some more in there somewhere I could check.

[boscoe99]

Hopefully it is just the fuse on the motor.

[99yam40]

Also the neutral switch in the 703 can stop power from going to start relay if the switch says it is not in neutral

[hogaboomer]

Hopefully it is just the fuse on the motor.

I'm pretty sure that's the one I looked at, and it's still good. Where did you get that diagram, boscoe?

[boscoe99]

Service manual.

Yes, check the neutral safety switch in the control box. Seems you have power from the motor to the control box. Do the gauges light up but the motor not crank? That would indicate the switch is open.

[hogaboomer]

We don't have any gauges.

There's about 10 pounds of wire crammed in that little 5 pound area. This thing is a massive pain in the butt to get put back together. Must be some trick to it that I ain't figuring out. If they didn't put 50 butt splices in there it might be easier to cram back together.

[hogaboomer]

How do I bypass the neutral safety switch to check if it will crank?

[hogaboomer]

Alright then, I just bridged across those two terminals and it cranked, so the neutral safety switch is the culprit. Thanks guys!!! I had noticed some random little pieces of plastic broken off in there when I went to put it back together, so I guess I broke it.