problem getting boat ready for season

[Biggredd]

I have a 96 marada 21' open bow with a 5.0 v8. trying to get it ready for the season. pulled it out and put a trickle charger on it. tried to start it and I hear a click but won't try and start. I also tried to jump start it with no luck. and conveniently non of the necessities are working either such as the bilge pump, horn, light etc. the radio works and the gauges are showing a decent charge on the battery. any idea where to start?

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Might be a couple of things. First off a trickle charge probably won't bring a dead battery back to life. Might want to have that battery checked and charged. Also, check your battery cable connections, especially ground. That's all I got.

 

[bryanwhite]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Same thing happened with my boat yesterday, I check all the cables going to the battery, starter and so fourth, in the end the wire on the back if ignition (key start) was loose. I reattached it and the boat cranked right up.

 

[Don S]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

+1 on the Trickle charger not working if the battery was dead.

Assuming the battery was charged, and the cables are tight, try these tests.

View attachment Troubleshooting a mercruiser Starting system rev2.pdf

 

[Levithan]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Your battery connections may have a layer of near invisible corrosion on them as well(happened to me this year).
Sand all your connections and battery terminals to ensure good contact then try it again.
If your battery is to far gone even a jump start won't give you enough juice but i'm quite sure it's a bit of both you have there.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Just for reference, the trickle charger should have been put on the battery last fall when the boat was stored. It would have been fresh this spring. If it was left in the boat and connected, the station memory and clock function in the radio would have killed the battery and you may now need a new one. These are all if's of course.

 

[Biggredd]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

I just got the boat at the end of last season and did not plan as well as I could have. I am actually only borrowing this charger until I purchase one soon. I did disconnect the battery for winter. And as of right now when I turn the key on the initial "on" buzzer turns on, the gauges work, the motor will go up and down, radio turns on, just hear a click when I try and start it. I'll check out this diagram and see what happens. I'm also charging it a little longer in hopes that maybe it just had enough juice to run these accessories but not to turn the starter. I may take the battery in to an auto parts store to check status of it. I appreciate the responses. Hope its something simple. The boat ran fine before I put it in for storage. I'll follow up once I know.

 

[Don S]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

And as of right now when I turn the key on the initial "on" buzzer turns on, the gauges work, the motor will go up and down, radio turns on, just hear a click when I try and start it.

Your motor doesn't go up and down, your sterndrive trims and tilts up and down.

Get a DVM and check the voltage on the battery.

 

[Biggredd]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Your motor doesn't go up and down, your sterndrive trims and tilts up and down.

Thank you captain obvious.

Turns out it was the engine fuse. Had a mechanic buddy come over and didn't take long to figure it out luckily. then we were lucky enough to get 7 inches of snow. I swear this is a never ending Winter here in Denver. So I was able to get the engine started briefly and now just need to wait another day or two for snow to melt and I'll finish up the summer preps.

Had my buddy not shown up that diagram would've been perfect. fyi.

 

[adamjr]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

Thank you captain obvious.

You're new around here and many may cut you some slack but I will politely make a suggestion. There are certain folks around here that are very quick with valuable answers. Don S is one of them. He does have a life outside of this forum and is very generous with his time and his incredibly vast knowledge. He has solved thousands of dollars worth of issues for me with his keyboard. At times he and others will lay down a correction such as your stern drive lifting rather than your motor. This is not meant to be an insult but a correction because many people are new and simply don't know the terminology. This is to help you so in the future you use the correct terminology which makes it easier for people to give you the correct answer. For instance it makes many people's skin crawl when decks are called floors.

Summing it up when someone corrects your terminology while they are giving you free answers it is wise not to sarcastically insult them. Peace!

 

[copierkat]

Re: problem getting boat ready for season

You're new around here and many may cut you some slack but I will politely make a suggestion. There are certain folks around here that are very quick with valuable answers. Don S is one of them. He does have a life outside of this forum and is very generous with his time and his incredibly vast knowledge. He has solved thousands of dollars worth of issues for me with his keyboard. At times he and others will lay down a correction such as your stern drive lifting rather than your motor. This is not meant to be an insult but a correction because many people are new and simply don't know the terminology. This is to help you so in the future you use the correct terminology which makes it easier for people to give you the correct answer. For instance it makes many people's skin crawl when decks are called floors.

Summing it up when someone corrects your terminology while they are giving you free answers it is wise not to sarcastically insult them. Peace!

I agree 100%! Thanks for posting that adamjr.