'83 Johnson 50hp...melted battery lead right off!

[surftrish]

Ahh springtime...I forgot how much fun this is. Here's what's going on--I thought that I had a bad battery because there was hardly any spin on the wheel, even after charging. Also there was smoke coming off of the negative lead on the battery and both connectors were very hot. thought maybe it was damaged in the "sinking" last year. So I bought a brand new marine battery and the motor started right up. Got out on the water and the motor bogged at first but then picked up. After about 15 minutes the motor died and come to find out the neg. connector had gotten so hot that it melted the lead on the new battery right off. (got towed in as usual). Now the wheel is spinning fine but motor won't start, wires are still hot and I have that pit in my stomach that I had forgotten about over the winter. I'm bad with electrical but my guess would be the solenoid and/or starter. Any thoughts?...Please help!

 

[sparkroost]

Re: '83 Johnson 50hp...melted battery lead right off!

Do the leads spark when you connect them to the battery with the electrical system turned off?<br /><br />What motor?<br /><br />It sounds to me like there is a short. If you submerged the boat it could be a short almost anywhere. <br /><br />Battery leads will get hot at the connection if it's corroded. If the battery lead wires are corroded in the crimp-on connector you will have to cut them and put new connectors on.<br /><br />There is no easy answer for this one. Without a multimeter, and the ability to use it, you are only guessing.

 

[surftrish]

Re: '83 Johnson 50hp...melted battery lead right off!

Thanks for the reply<br />Motor is '83 Johnson 50hp...<br />No--no sparks when electrical is turned off. I know the leads aren't switched. I ran the boat for almost 2 months after the motor was submerged (it was only partially under for a few minutes) so i'm not sure that it would be a short that was caused by that.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: '83 Johnson 50hp...melted battery lead right off!

don't know what you mean by the wheel spinning. Do you mean the starter turns over the engine? If the battery lead(s) get hot -- let alone melt -- with operation of the starter, you probably need either a new solenoid or a new/rebuilt starter. If the cables heat up in operation, though, you appear to have a serious short and might need a pro to trouble shoot it.