Re: 1999 5.7L Mercruiser Alpha One Gen II - Sluggish Starter
I checked my voltage drops and everything turned out within spec. I have noticed that my problem was only apparent after running the boat for a while on the water, stopping for a while, and then trying to restart. I also noticed while running that my volt meter was reading 12volts or below, indicating that I wasn't charging the battery. I checked my alternator output at the battery while running and wasn't getting any increase in voltage....actually could watch the multimeter reading drop about 0.01 volts every 30 seconds or so. I couldn't reach or see the alternator wire connections to check the output at the alternator so I removed it. When I removed it, the orange wire (charging wire I assume) pulled right out of its crimp connection. I noticed that there were some black burn marks on the end of the wire and around the corresponding alternator terminal. The alternator checked out ok when I had it tested this morning, so I believe that I was draining the battery while running since it couldn't charge, and when I attempted to restart after shutting down, I didn't have enough voltage on the battery to turn the starter over fast enough.
I am going to replace the connections on the alternator tonight, hopefully that will fix my sluggish starter problem. Does anybody disagree with using liquid electrical tape on all the alternator terminals? Do you guys agree that this would be the culprit to my problem since the starter and the alternator checked out ok?