2005 bayliner 175 power issue

[frostymugg3000]

Took out boat first time this year started fine couple times on water then nothing. Turned key no tone nothing. Got towed in tried jump battery nothing. Battery is brand new checked it has full charge checked volt meter starter is getting power. When put key in to start just makes little chirp noise and thats it. All fuses are good. Thought might have bad kill switch replaced it still nothing. Any ideas what issue may be.

 

[Fun Times]

Hi there, Typically if you're hearing the warning horn chirp, it's usually an indication of having low 12 volt power which could also be caused by having a bad ground wire or cable connection either at the engine or helm area. So be sure to check for corrosion and wiggle all the power and ground wire/cable connections to see if you can get your power back. Also wiggle the main wire harness cannon plug at the engine with the key on.

There is a 90 amp fuse at the engine starter that could be bad as well. One of the quickest ways to test if the starter fuse is bad is to test both the orange wire off the back of the alternator and the red/purple wire at the slave solenoid.

Does the 12volt gauge come up to 12v when you turn the key on?

See if this how to check your starting system guide linked below helps you out any, Good luck.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engin...tarting-system

 

[Bt Doctur]

Fun, I would rewire it so that the system power (red wire) is directly to the battery stud and the alt feed is put to the 90A fuse link.
The reason is ,if the 90A should blow the alt is not connected to the battery load and will run wild pumping all the voltage into the boats wiring.
It would be like starting your car and removing the positive battery cable

 

[NYBo]

Welcome to iboats!:welcome:

The kill switch interrupts the ignition circuit, not the starter. Look for a circuit breaker on the motor (Mercruiser 3.0?) itself. It should have a red reset button.

 

[frostymugg3000]

Yeah already messed with that did nothing to fix problem

 

[Fun Times]

Fun, I would rewire it so that the system power (red wire) is directly to the battery stud and the alt feed is put to the 90A fuse link.
The reason is ,if the 90A should blow the alt is not connected to the battery load and will run wild pumping all the voltage into the boats wiring.
It would be like starting your car and removing the positive battery cable

Bt Doctur, just curious with why you'd want to change Mercruiser's latest fuse design? Keeping in mind the fuse wasn't always there.

The 90 amps fuse is designed to protect the engines main 12 volt system which includes the alternators main output and the power going to the 50 amp circuit breaker, starter slave solenoid and ignition key.

I do believe I get what you're saying but even though Merc calls the orange wire an "output", in theory it's just as much as an input on the "12v system" from the battery...Without the orange wire, there would be no 12.6 volt power to deliver to or from the alternator out going...Now with the engine running, and the orange wire disconnected (Or blown fuse), the only normal volt power coming from (out of) the alternator output is on average 1.5 - 2.5 volts.....Now connect the orange wire and you get your 13 - 14v range we typically see while running.

On average, is the 1.5 - 2.5 volts enough to worry about should it be flowing back out of the other red/purple and purple wires of the alternator and/or the orange wire that's connected to the 90 amp fuse that's also connected with the red wire in question? < Keeping in mind that should the fuse blow and the alternator run wild with excessive power, in theory the 50 amp circuit breaker should trip protecting the rest of the electrical system.

What's the average most seen voltage when an alternator goes bad internally 15 - 16 volts? or in severe cases, over 18+ volts? Take away the 12v due to a blown 90 amp fuse and that output power from the alternator should drop?

Here's some wiring harness diagrams if someone needs one. ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS - Boat Parts, Marine Engine Parts, ?

 

[Bt Doctur]

when the fuse was not there ,the main power and alt output went directly to the battery terminal lug..There already is a 50A circuit breaker in the line so why put a 90A before that?. I have had a few alt run wild when that fuse went "open" and the alt was disconnected from the battery side. overloaded the light bulbs and the electronics and blew the internal fuses.
I know the 3 wire should go dead with the sense and excite out of the circuit but why take chances. If I would do anything I would eliminate it at the starter and put it on the output terminal of the alt. At least this way the alt is still fused at 90A to the battery and the 50A takes care of the boat wiring system

 

[Silvertip]

How about cleaning the battery terminals. Looking at them is no assurance that they are clean and tight. And remember that battery cables have two ends. Clean and tighten both ends.

 

[Fun Times]

My only guess of why they went to a 90 amp fuse would be because they started installing alternators that put out more amperages then years past. They're as high as 75 amps now from new when the older engine models were closer to 30ish?:noidea:

 

[achris]

Another possibility is the 20A fuse in the power wire to the keyswitch. It's located in the keyswitch harness, and I've seen quite a few do what you are seeing due to the fuse getting a tiny amount of corrosion on it. I usually remove the glass fuse and its holder entirely and replace it with a standard blade fuse and holder. With that, you can carry a handful of 20A blade fuses and you have the entire engine and instrument cluster covered.

Something that looks like this....

 

[achris]

My only guess of why they went to a 90 amp fuse would be because they started installing alternators that put out more amperages then years past. They're as high as 75 amps now from new when the older engine models were closer to 30ish?:noidea:

I guess the reason is more to do with the trend in automotive. Years ago the only thing the alternator did was power a points ignition system, lights at night and a small radio. Now it's got to cope with the load of all those on-boards, plus the noise-makers at several hundreds of watts. As the marine alternators are just marinised auto units, and they don't make many small output auto units any longer.... Just a WAG....

Chris........

 

[GA_Boater]

Frosty - Combined your two threads. I picked this one to keep because it has the most replies.

 

[BGSnow]

This post saved my bacon. I used the ignition troubleshooting by Don S. (https://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...tarting-system) and this post on the 90Amp fuse attached to the starter Solenoid to troubleshoot and resolve my starting issue. My Problem WAS the 90Amp fuse (~$40) pulled it off, put it on, and boom, everything works again.

THIS is the value of on-line forums.

BGSnow , glad it all worked out for you...FT.