thaddeus76
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2007
- Messages
- 25
Hello, First time poster here. My name is Thad and this will be my second season owning my boat. It's a 1986 Glasstream Cutlass 172. It has a 3.0L 140hp Mercruiser I/O. The boat has ran great up until now. I've had a couple starting issues when the motor is warmed up, but I've been able to keep those down recently.
Some history over the last couple weeks:
Riding along, Riding along, I occasionaly would have the radio, fishfinder, handheld GPS off the cigarette charger, and the bilge pump running at the same time, and notice the battery voltage off the fishfinder reading 11.9-12.5v. As I switched these items off, the battery reading would increase back up to 13.3-13.5. No noticable fluctuations on the dashboard analog voltmeter when operating the trim motor.
Here's what happened today:
Got the wife and baby loaded in the boat and started heading out. About 15 seconds into the run, just barely trimmed out, bad things started to happen.
-The voltmeter on the dash, pegged full right, then full left and then back center to 13 volts.
-The engine surged 3-4 times, almost cutting off at times.
Things settled down, but now everytime I operate the trim motor, the analog voltmeter needle noticably moves below 13 and digitally reads 11.8v-12.3v The motor RPM also drops slightly.
Running no load still reads 13.3v-13.5v.
At first I thought it was the alternator, but I took it off and brought it to an alternator shop, and he checked it out OK.
I then cleaned the battery connections and checked to make sure they were all properly secured.
I'm going to bring the battery tomorrow to autozone to have it checked.
It is a month old and most likely ok, but I understand this is a possibilty. I've ran the boat about 10 times in the last 2 months, and the battery was disconnected while not in use. I assume the battery is in good health.
It may be a short, especially in the trim motor, which would explain the eratic voltmeter movements. I was operating the trim when this event happened.
Am I missing anything?
Some history over the last couple weeks:
Riding along, Riding along, I occasionaly would have the radio, fishfinder, handheld GPS off the cigarette charger, and the bilge pump running at the same time, and notice the battery voltage off the fishfinder reading 11.9-12.5v. As I switched these items off, the battery reading would increase back up to 13.3-13.5. No noticable fluctuations on the dashboard analog voltmeter when operating the trim motor.
Here's what happened today:
Got the wife and baby loaded in the boat and started heading out. About 15 seconds into the run, just barely trimmed out, bad things started to happen.
-The voltmeter on the dash, pegged full right, then full left and then back center to 13 volts.
-The engine surged 3-4 times, almost cutting off at times.
Things settled down, but now everytime I operate the trim motor, the analog voltmeter needle noticably moves below 13 and digitally reads 11.8v-12.3v The motor RPM also drops slightly.
Running no load still reads 13.3v-13.5v.
At first I thought it was the alternator, but I took it off and brought it to an alternator shop, and he checked it out OK.
I then cleaned the battery connections and checked to make sure they were all properly secured.
I'm going to bring the battery tomorrow to autozone to have it checked.
It is a month old and most likely ok, but I understand this is a possibilty. I've ran the boat about 10 times in the last 2 months, and the battery was disconnected while not in use. I assume the battery is in good health.
It may be a short, especially in the trim motor, which would explain the eratic voltmeter movements. I was operating the trim when this event happened.
Am I missing anything?
