battery drain 2003 Tracker 175

I purchased a 2003 Tracker pro 175 in what appears to be excellent condition. The seller put in a brand new marine battery from Kragen 24 MD-DL MCA 685 (starting battery/gave me receipt verifying just purchased). I happened to have the exact same battery (1 yr old) I use on my other boat and I put it in for the trolling motor/trim/fish finder/etc. Both batteries fully charged. Took it fishing yesterday (about 7 hrs). Engine started fine first 10 locations but then wouldn't start. (Running time between locations, 2-12 minutes each). Let it sit for 30 minutes and it started but engine died while at dock at idle. Not enough juice to start again. Checked it today and it needs to be charged. My used battery worked trolling motor & everything else fine but also wouldn't start outboard on the water when I switched the battery leads from new battery to old. It doesn't seem like starting an outboard 10 times should drain the battery. Any ideas? Why didn't the other battery start the outboard, but still worked the trolling motor. I know the cranking amps required to start is much higher than running trolling motor but it didn't even make any noise when I tried to start it.

Re: battery drain 2003 Tracker 175

You don't have a battery drain issue. You have a battery cable or other starting system issue. Check and clean the battery cables at the battery AND at the engine. While you are at it, inspect the terminals on the end of each cable very carefully where the cable enters the terminal. If there is any corrosion in those areas, cut the terminal off and install a new one. You can also try jumping the solenoid with a short piece of wire. It may be that you have an ignition switch or related wiring problem. Move from that test to using jumper cables to connect directly to the starter. If that test fails you have a bad starter.

Re: battery drain 2003 Tracker 175

You might want to test the rectifier or rectifier/regulator.
If it is bad, then a newly charged battery might make 10-12 starts before being "run down" enough to fail to start your motor.

The rectifier diodes can be fried if one either shorts the battery cables or incorrectly hooks them to the opposite battery posts. The rectifier won't send any power to your battery if it is dead.

There is a rectifier forum elsewhere in this site that will give you explicit instructions on how to test your rectifier.

Hope this helps.

Re: battery drain 2003 Tracker 175

Use your multimeter to test your fully charged battery(ies). Should read about 13.5 to 14.3 volts....test off of the posts....then move your probes over to test the cables....that will prove that you are sending the max electricity into the system....what else is on the system....try to eliminate one item at a time....good luck