battery fire- starter issue

Vinson Blanton

Recruit
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
3
cranked my pontoon and everything seemed fine until i put in neutral and heard metal to metal from the engine. put back in gear and motor sounded normal. shifted from forward to reverse and heard the same sound every time it went in neutral. boat cut off and i notice smoke from battery compartment. the hot terminal had melted down. i put the fire out and assumed a loose connection. after replacing the battery, the starter just clicks and gets hot. do you think the starter was the problem the whole time and it caused the battery to develop heat at the post and melt down.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,309
welcome aboard.

what are you working on?

as far as the battery, loose connections (especially those with wing nuts) will cause posts to melt and batteries to catch on fire

the starter probably didnt help the issue. check the battery cable connections thru the whole motor and have the starter checked at your local starter re-builder.
 

99yam40

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
8,851
sounds like the starter was energizing every time you put the controller into neutral.
being that the start circuit is broken when shifted out of neutral, I would search for what would call for the starter.
key switch is my 1st thought

need to look for what was causing that to happen
 
Last edited:

Vinson Blanton

Recruit
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
3
its possible the key switch could have been stuck in the start position but when i first started the boat i let it warm up for a min or two and now sound. very odd that the starter would have engaged again unless it malfunctioned. but it makes sense that it quit trying to start while in gear since the gear stick does disable the start circuit while in gear.
 
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