Towed in today. Think it’s electrics☹️
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Engine Repair
Forum Discription: Engine problems and solutions
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48936
Printed Date: May-05-2024 at 3:01am
Topic: Towed in today. Think it’s electrics☹️
Posted By: Goldcup101
Subject: Towed in today. Think it’s electrics☹️
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 2:39pm
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Hi all, looking for some help with an electrical issue please. First day on the lake ended in embarrassment. Battery wasn’t showing fully charged from the charger but even on the driveway there was a sign of something not quite right. It cranks quite slowly even when fully charged but fires up fine. Occasionally (today being a fine example) the solenoid will click, it won’t crank and the voltmeter goes from 12/13V to zero. The only way to reset this condition is to disconnect the battery live and then it will get 12v again. Usually that’s enough but today it kept going to zero (shorting?) and no number of “resets” would make it fire. I don’t think it’s the battery as it’s pretty big and shows 12/13v. Any ideas? Or any suggestions for fault finding before I pull my pants down and take it to the marina mechanic? Thanks! Calum |
Replies:
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 2:54pm
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13v at the battery is good. 12v at the battery is no good. Clicks like that usually indicate low voltage at the relay, the usual culprit being the cables (corroded or loose terminals, etc) or the battery itself. |
Posted By: samudj01
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 5:28pm
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Sounds similar to our issue in the tique last year. As Tim said, verify good battery first. Many times a weak battery caused the symptoms you are mentioning. We had similar issues and had a bad ground. Our batt cables were corroded and shot! ------------- 78 Ski Tique, 72 Skier w/302's, 93 SN w/351 & 17 GS22 w/zr409 Previous - 99 Sport Nautique w/GT40 and 87 Martinique w/351 |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 5:50pm
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Thanks guys. Tim wins the prize! The battery is new and hefty so that was unlikley to be the answer, The terminals on the cables didn't look great though so I cleaned all that up with sandpaper and clipped an inch off the cables to get nice clean ends. Problem solved. I couldn't have guessed it would be something so simple especially since it had started ok when cold (though it was a slow crank). I;d have thought it would get easier with a warm engine but maybe I'd taken a bit out of the battery. What's with the reset issue out of interest? Why does the battery need disconnecting and reconnecting with this bad connection problem? It doesn't do that now that I have good terminal connections so presumably it's related. |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 6:01pm
I feel just disconnecting the battery terminals "cleaned up" the connection enough for you to get some volts/amps through. Wiggling the terminals also "cleaned up" the cable to the terminal connection. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Goldcup101 wrote:Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 6:54pm
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Wiggling made no difference; the connections needed total cleaning but when they were bad, each time I tried to start the engine, there was a click and the volts would drop to zero. The only way to re-estabish any power was to disconnect and reconnect the battery. Then I'd get 13v again. The bad connection meant that although it indicated 13v, the amps weren't gettng through. I just wondered what system isolates the battery like that? Resetting the ignition breaker made no difference; I had to disconnect and reconnect the battery. Now that it's fixed, the volts re-establish to 13v with a trun of the key. |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 7:08pm
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The system does not Isolate with bad voltage. The click was the start relay. Then the poor battery connection arced causing further resistance cutting the power. Then you disconnecting and reconnecting the battery renewed the connection. Sand paper! NO!! You are doing more harm than good since small grains of non conductive abrasive get embedded into the terminals and posts. Get a battery post and terminal cleaner that's designed for the job and then make sure your terminals are tight.  ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 7:35pm
This gives me a vision of some battery cable ends that are "less than ideal" at keeping moisture and corrosion problems from happening.  Maybe something like what's in the link, they're pretty much a start problem waiting to happen https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/battery-terminal/duralast-battery-terminal-dl06067/95964_1099985_23849?spps.s=5134&cmpid=LIA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:BAC:71700000060662128&gclid=CjwKCAjw88v3BRBFEiwApwLevQGD7eMM32HaY2Csv1uzpwLrmjy4dLIoape1SqwdjokLYEVxwJ7xsxoCfFEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds" rel="nofollow - link |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: June-24-2020 at 7:49pm
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Thanks Pete; lesson learned. Terminal cleaner ordered!! Cheers, Calum |
Posted By: Goldcup101
Date Posted: June-27-2020 at 9:57am
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Further to last, have decided to replace the battery cables; they weren't looking in great shape and I don't want a repeat performance of last week! Planning on 1AWG gauge marine cable. If anyone knows that 0 will fit (or recommended) then please say but I'm worried it will be too thick. If someone has done this job, I'd be grateful to know the lengths I need please as I'd rather order them terminated and then pull the new ones in as the old ones come out. The boat is a 97 TSC1 Ski. (HO Carb Engine if that matters) Many thanks once again!  
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Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: June-27-2020 at 10:16am
Nice!  ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: SNobsessed
Date Posted: June-27-2020 at 10:57pm
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That picture would make a great beer ad! ------------- “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Ben Franklin |
Posted By: Canuck-Surfer
Date Posted: August-06-2022 at 11:38pm
I've got a 96 Sport. Just curious, did you go with the 1 or 0 AWG? I'm curious about 0 AWG as well. ------------- 1996 Sport Nautique GT40 EFI |