can bad battery cause ignition problems?

[sikpnter]

My battery will start my engine fine and is showing 12.5 volts but slowly loses charge over time and was wondering if it could cause ignition problems? 1996 150 fast strike.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Have you checked your charging system?

 

[Seasport]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Sounds like your charging system is not working. Does your tach work OK? Your tach is fed from your rectifier/regulator and normally if the rectifer goes out so does the tach.<br /><br />Low battery shouldn't cause ignition problems. Unlike a car, your ignition system will run happily without a battery once started. However, your powerpack receives its power to run the electronics from the stator power coil & also the stator charge coils provide high voltage for firing ignition coils.<br /><br />Sounds like you should check out your stator. Your symptoms suggest a stator problem.

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Yes my tach is working and it does charge at a little over 14 volts when idleing. Im having some ignition problems and its sounding like my powerpack is on the brink. I was just wondering cause when my boat was new I never had to charge the main battery but now I do. I do mostly fishing and from ramp to the spots I fish are less than a mile so Im not sure if the motor is getting a chance to give it a real good jolt.. But on the other hand the only thing that the battery is running is a fish finder when Im shut down so what do you think.. bad battery along with powerpack? The ignition problem I'm having is that at wot it feels like its missing sometimes. Then the next day it runs 60 mph at 5800 rpms and so on it has been doing this since spring. I went out today and it felt like it was missing for a while then on my way back it ran like a champ.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

The ignition is self contained and the voltage required by the powerpack is AC voltage that is supplied by the stator (under the flywheel) which supplies approximately 300v AC to the pack. The engine would run without the battery BUT DO NOT attampt to do that.<br /><br />The battery is required of course for the electric starter, other electrical components, and must be in the engine's electrical circuit, otherwise the rectifier will fail which in turn will cause the stator to overheat bad.<br /><br />The stator is a two fold component. One portion charges the battery (small coils), the other portion energizes the powerpack (large black coils).

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Thanks joe. That is what I thought. I doing some trouble shooting first. Today I disconected the shift switch with no change and the kill switch is working.

 

[Seasport]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Probably a combination of an aging battery and not enough running to fully charge it.<br /><br />On the 150 with the OIS ignition system you have two charge coils (one for starboard cylinder bank and one for port cylinder bank) and you also have a separate power coil for powering the powerpack and sensor electronics.<br /><br />You can download an ignition troubleshooting guide from www.rapair.com. On page 35 it has some tests for a high speed miss problem. However, you need some specialised tools & a bit of electrical knowledge. It probably is your powerpack but possibly bad stator.

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Thanks seasport! I have downloaded that. Unfortunately I dont have the tools and the electrical knowledge... I can get a powerpack for around 140. That is what it will cost just to have a mechanic tell me I need a new powerpack! I understand that this thing is 10 years old and I like to have new parts. Do you know what stators run?

 

[Seasport]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Check out iShopMarine.com they have full parts lists plus prices.<br /><br />Have you checked around your coils for any sign or arcing to the base plate? They have a tendency to do this. You could be dropping a cylinder at high revs.

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Yes I did look around the coils and the base plate looks clean no burnt marks however I didnt take them off I just look moved the wires around.. Another question is do I really need a special tool to get the flywheel off, it say in the clymer manual that if you dont you might loose some fingers from some magnets in the flywheel is this true?

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Update and a new Question.. I've been having a high speed miss and have planned on getting a new powerpack. I was out fishing today and I was doing some testing so while the motor was idleing I pulled the kill switch and the motor shut off, OK now I attempted to start the motor with the kill cord off and the thing started!! Can someone tell me if this miss I'm having could be my ignition switch?

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Remove the black/yellow wire fron the ignition switch. Run the engine. If the problem still exists, the ignition switch is not the problem.<br /><br />Note: With that wire removed, you will not be able to kill the engine simply by turning the key off.<br /><br />With the cord removed from the kill switch, the engine should not have started as that should have grounded the ignition circuit.

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Ok I'll do that. So whats the best way to kill the motor while its running?

 

[90srtatos]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

buy a power pack and fix the problem

 

[sikpnter]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Its sounding like I need a ignition switch too. My motor will start without my kill cord, nice huh..thanks

 

[Seasport]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

The kill switch behaviour could be a powerpack problem as well. It's sort of strange that the motor stopped when you pulled the kill switch but then started again with it still disconnected. If the kill switch is faulty you would expect that it wouldn't have made any difference when you disconnected it.<br /><br />You should be able to stop the motor by over priming it to flood the motor (I think).

 

[rodbolt]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

the late style kill switches are desined that way. it rotates the key to off when pulled but if not reinstalled it will start and run mostly normal agan. the mostly is unless your in rough water then sometimes the swicth will pop itself back to the off position without the lanyard.

 

[Seasport]

Re: can bad battery cause ignition problems?

Good point rodbolt. I wasn't thinking that he had the later style kill switch.