1989 Evinrude Vro 60hp Battery Problem

[lewis-allen]

Evening everyone, after a bit of help. I have a 1989 Evinrude VRO 60HP which isn't charging the battery, charged the battery up over night, starts the boat in the morning, launch the boat and then no power what so ever. Iv tried numerous batteries and my dad put a volt meter on the battery, we had when it was charged 12v and engine on nothing soo im assuming its not charging.... However this isnt my only problem, its been warm today and the engine has been in the sun allday and pretty hot to touch even after not running for over an hour, the hottest part is the flywheel almost too hot to touch.. my dads an electrician and he says that somethings not telling the engine to cut the power, which is causing the coils to stay on effectively making the engine think that its trying to start without turning if that makes sense hence the hot flywheel.
could it be a relay somewhere or is something likely to be sticking? im knew to boat engines and the boat didnt come with a manual. I had a quick look on here and saw a few possible cures. one being that the rectifier has packed up or power pack?

any one give me a direction to head in? or got any wiring diagrams that might help

Cheers

 

[Will Bark]

Power pak has nothing to do with charging the batteries only the stator or rectifier. To check charging use a multimeter on the battery and get a reading with engine off then start engine on the muffs or in the lake or barrel and get another reading on the battery; if reading is higher then battery is charging if not then no charge and you would need to go to cdi electronics . com and get instructions on how to check your system. As for flywheel getting hot heat may traveling up the crankshaft from the engine and transferring to the flywheel which will make it hot to the touch. Good luck

 

[Joe Reeves]

Reason for the charging system NOT charging the battery.... either someone has hooked up the battery backwards at one time or hooked a charger up to the battery backwards. Either mistake will destroy the tectifier. Check the rectifier as follows and replace if needed.

Yes, it is very possible to fully charge a battery backwards... SO... check the polarity of that battery before hooking it up to the engine!

(Small Rectifier Description & Location)
(J. Reeves)

On most 2,3,4,6 cylinder engines, the small rectifier is located on the starboard (right) side of the engine just in front of the engines electrical wiring strip. There are a few older V4 engines that have the wiring strip on the rear portion of the engine and the rectifier would be located just under that terminal strip. The smaller horsepower engines usually have the rectifier located on the starboard side of the powerhead close to the carburetor area.

The rectifier appears to be a round object approximately one inch (1") in diameter and also about one inch (1") high. The base of it is sort of triangular in appearance and is attached to the engine with two (2) screws/bolts..... usually one screw/bolt is larger than the other. The rectifier, depending on which one your engine uses, will have either:

One Red wire, one Yellow wire, and one Yellow/Gray wire, or One Red wire, and two Yellow wires.

Note that either of the above rectifiers could have a fourth wire which would be Yellow/Blue.
******************************

After running the engine, then shutting it down, "all" the heat generated by the engine raises to it's extreme top, under the flywheel... and it stays quite hot there for a very long time. Put the rig in the shade and remove the hood... it should cool off in about a hour. If you're concerned about having voltage thrown to some component even when the key is OFF... remove one cable from the battery, then attempt to reattach it. If you get one hellava spark/arc... then yes, there is a problem, otherwise don't be concerned about the heat.

 

[Silvertip]

I'm a little confused over your description of voltage measurements. You said the battery measured 12 volts when charged but zero (nothing) when the engine was running. That is highly unlikely. If the charging system isn't working, the battery would still measure 12 volts. In fact the battery is not even required to keep the engine running because it is a magneto system,. The battery is only used to spin the starter and operate accessories. If something is draining a fully charged battery in a short period of time you are advised to do the following:

1) Disconnect the smaller of the wires connected to the POSITIVE battery terminal. This would remove all accessories from the electrical system.
2) If this doesn't fix isolate the problem, there is a likelihood that the rectifier/regulator has gone bad. Diodes in this device can cause battery discharge quickly.
3) If the problem goes away with the wire disconnected as in Step 2, then there is a high current drain in one or more of the accessories -- such as a stalled live well pump. However if that were the case, a fuse would pop. But then not knowing who if anyone has mucked with the wiring it's hard to say what could be causing the drain.

 

[lewis-allen]

Silvertip--- sorry i meant no change in the volts when engine running, and as for the heat, i left the engine a couple hours plugged a freshly charged battery in and came back an hour later to find the flywheel boiling hot and the battery completely dead. does this sound like the rectifier? how much am i looking to spend to fix this myself? preferably from uk supplier

 

[Joe Reeves]

i left the engine a couple hours plugged a freshly charged battery in and came back an hour later to find the flywheel boiling hot and the battery completely dead. does this sound like the rectifier? how much am i looking to spend to fix this myself? preferably from uk supplier

The rectifier is no doubt shot... BUT... it sound like you're delivering voltage diredtly to the stator under the flywheel.

Didn't that new battery arc bad when you hooked it up? I should think that a short that bad would have melted the wiring harness and/or started a engine fire.

Disconnect the stator wiring from the terminal strip and also from the electrical plugs. Did that eleiminate the short?

 

[lewis-allen]

The rectifier is no doubt shot... BUT... it sound like you're delivering voltage diredtly to the stator under the flywheel.

Didn't that new battery arc bad when you hooked it up? I should think that a short that bad would have melted the wiring harness and/or started a engine fire.

Disconnect the stator wiring from the terminal strip and also from the electrical plugs. Did that eleiminate the short?

Havnt had chance to check yet due to work being busy, my dads going to try and test the rectifier tomorrow so hopefully that will shed some light. I have looked at the wiring quickly and i can not see any signs of melting, the battery did arc when i connected to the engine but wasnt that strong.

 

[lewis-allen]

Little update ..

Dad tested the rectifier today and found that it wasnt working properly.
Next question is where to get one from? the number on the part is 27 L N-0A its a 3 wire rectifier and uk supplier please