Boat starting problem

[wheresmybobber!]

The problem is the boat started on its own while in the driveway. Obviously I have a wiring issue somewhere that has allowed power to go through my starter, coil, and ignition. Stupid me I forgot to turn the batteries off after fishing but right now I just hoping that I don't have any damage to the motor or water pump. I don't know how long she was running before the the guy across the street woke me up but she did get pretty warm without water being hooked up. multi battery switch was pretty hot also so I guess my questions is where do you think I should start?

[Starfish]

Ouch! That's bad news. Definitely want to replace the water pump impeller after an event like that. Sounds like a starter (key) switch would have to have failed to cause that.

[BassinFever]

If it was a wiring issue it would have fried the starter also! Sounds to me like someone just started it as a joke and ran off!!! If it ran for more than just a minute or two there is probably a lot more things wrong that you may think!!

[wheresmybobber!]

Well good news. The outdrive is an older OMC with ball gears and it was in the up position so the impeller was not turning. Talked to my neibor who noticed it and he said it only ran for about 20 minutes. Its a closed water system so I checked the oil and did not find anything wrong there. Battery switch is toast so I'll pick up and install another one in the morning and picked up a new ignition. Started the boat yesterday off one battery and ran great never got above 140 degrees. Ran it for about 1.5 hours and then shut it down and watched my voltage on my depth finder and it never dropped below 12.5 volts.

As far as someone starting it and running off, key was in the off position the whole time. Must of had a freak haunting. I'll update after this weekend if I have anymore issues.

Thanks for the advise.

Mike

[BassinFever]

The reason I posted as I did was that if there was a short to make the starter engauge, it seems that the starter would have been enguaged the whole time the engine was running!