Won’t Start in the Water

spinbp5 said:

Well here we go again…
I finally got the boat running and have been running it at least once a week. It’s been about 3 months or so and this week I decided to take the grandkids fishing in the boat. Well wouldn’t you know it… I put it in the water and all it did was drain my battery and my jump starter. I put it back on the trailer and brought it home and charged the battery and the jumpstart and with two turns of the key the boat started right up as it always has before putting it into the water.
is this really possible? Won’t run in the water but will run out of water? I almost find this hard to believe.
Here are my specs:
1994 Glastron
Mercruiser Alpha One
MCM 3.0 Litre/LX
Digital Electronic Ignition System
Engine# 0F268907
Transom# 0F316451
Drive# 0F249994
4 Cylinder
Displacement 181 CID
Engine Rotation LH

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kenny nunez said:

Try starting the engine and warm it up at home before leaving for the lake.
This way you know it will start. I always started my boats up before heading to the launch.

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kenny nunez said:

Try starting the engine and warm it up at home before leaving for the lake.
This way you know it will start. I always started my boats up before heading to the launch.

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nola mike said:

Blows my mind that people don't do this. I always assume my engine won't start LOL. My neighbor had her boat on the lift (brackish water) all winter. Wanted me to help her pull it. Short story, she didn't even try to start it before hooking up the trailer and heading to the ramp. Just assumed it would start right up (spoiler alert, it didn't...and the shifter cable was frozen)

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ESGWheel said:

As long as your start up process is the same on the trailer as it is in the water, agree with Scott that it’s a coincidence.

The pre-start and run is a good idea but also be prepared to do some trouble shooting in the water. Here is what I suggest:

Without the grandkids – so no expectation to enjoy the day on the water – this is a ‘troubleshooting’ trip but with a spouse or friend go to launch the boat. Have the needed tools, like a multimeter, a way to check spark (an old sparkplug will work), a jumper wire with some alligator clips on it like this link (you can make one of these at home or buy them > they are a great troubleshooting tool), and a flashlight.

Now for the launching > I do not know your ramp / dock situation but clearly you do not want to be in the way of others while troubleshooting, so this must be thought out on how to do. Idea is to get the boat in the water and hope it is a no start. If no start, now the trouble shooting comes into play.

Start the trouble shooing process by using that jumper wire to connect battery to coil like you have done before. If it starts, great. Pull the jumper and try again, if it does not start, great as now we know what to go after. If it does restart (no jumper wire) this is also an indication of where to start but not as definitive. Let me explain:

From your previous thread back in Feb, dumped a lot of $$ into this boat to get a ‘new’ motor. Post that repair, you had a no start issue that was eventually traced back to a wiring issue at the ign. switch. I think you are still experiencing a wiring issue but of a different nature > an intermittent one. I.e., you have an electrical connection that becomes disconnected when bounced around. I think that trailering the boat to the water (or back home) bounces around the boat such that it is causing that connection to make or break.

Which leads me to my next statement: it is good it did not start with the grandkids. I know it was frustrating to expect a great day on the water with them but would have been much worse if you are out on the water and trying to get home and cannot start.

Which leads me to the next statement: please, let’s get this issue fixed before you go boating again. Even if you have 3 or 4 successful starts, I am concerned that the root issue will reappear at the most inappropriate time. And this can be dangerous.

So here is an alternative idea. Instead of a trip to the boat ramp for a troubleshooting trip, at home on the trailer try jiggling around wiring harnesses and connections in hopes of getting a no start condition.

Sorry for long post but I started thinking thru this situation more and more as I was typing. And I have some other ideas on how to troubleshoot on the trailer without draining down the battery by trying to constantly start but I will hold for now and see what you are thinking first…. Thx.

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spinbp5 said:

One thing is for certain and that is that the battery seems to be draining at a fast rate (3 or 4 turns of the key and battery is dead) and this is a new battery.

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• First check to see if any of your battery cables (both pos and neg) look as if they are burnt or any discoloration of the sheathing. Also evaluate the cleanliness of the connections. They need to be bright and shiny including under the neg cable where it bolts to the block. Please post findings.
• If not a sealed battery check with water level and make sure its correct level. Edit: if the cells are covered by more then 1/8” or so, charge first then recheck level and fill to proper amount.
• Disconnect the battery by pulling off the Neg cable and put the battery on a charger and change for at least 24 hrs… hopefully charger has a ‘charge status’ indicator and it shows fully charged after that 24 hrs but if not keep charging until it does.
• Post the brand, group size, and CCA and Ah of this new battery.
• I do not recall if you have a multimeter or not. If not, need to get one (link) along with some alligator type probes, like this link. Please let me know if you have these tools.