Odd Issue, I Couldn't Find it Searching

[SilverBulletZ]

Yesterday, we had our Sea Ray out, which has a Mercruiser 3.0 alpha II. Earlier in the day it fired right up and ran fine. But, we were headed back to the dock, and it hiccupped and completely died. I made sure that the battery was fully charged that morning, and I made sure that all of the connections were good. When it died, I made sure that it had fuel (which it did), and it would crank, but acted like there was no spark. While we were drifting, I just happened to check the tilt/trim and trailer buttons, and I didn't get a response. I checked the battery terminals and the positive terminal was warm, not hot, which I chalked up to extended cranking. But, I checked all of the terminals for corrosion and tightness, and everything was good. I tried the tilt/trim again, and it worked. So, oddly enough, I cranked it over, and it fired right up, but died a few seconds later. So, this time, I completely unhooked the negative terminals, and then hooked them back up. Tilt/trim worked, and it fired right up again, and I was able to get us back to the dock, but there were a couple of times where it would hiccup.

What I'm wondering, is if the tilt/trim solenoid is tied into the ignition somehow? The starter and starter solenoid were replaced two years ago, but there is another one on the tilt/trim assembly.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the trim/tilt is drawing a bunch of power and probably arcing thru the bad connection you have somewhere

start by cleaning all the battery cable connections between the battery and the motor and back. then clean all the connections in the big cable connector.

also helpful, year of motor as well as a serial number.

 

[TBarCYa]

I had a similar issue with my 08 Maxum with the Mercruiser 3.0. I had installed a second battery years ago but apparently when I replaced one of the batteries I neglected to connect one of the grounds and the engine would start and the gauges worked until I hit the trim at which point the gauges would go dead but the engine would continue to run.

I would suggest, as Scott recommended, that there's a bad / loose / dirty connection somewhere, most likely the ground. Make sure that the ground wire to the helm has a clean connection and try to put it on the bottom (under the engine ground; assuming you're using the threaded terminal) to ensure it has a solid connection.

 

[GA_Boater]

Apply this to the battery posts and terminals as the 1st step.