battery hook up/ electrical problems vs engine

[BlueeyedRuss]

I have a 2011 Stingray with 4.3 lt Mercruiser ( carb). As I was preparing it for use this summer, I replaced the batteries that I had taken out for winter and kept on a charger/conditioner. It is a two battery one engine system. I replaced the batteries and had marked the cables in order to reconnect the same way it was last year. Last year when I winterized, everything worked fine. Now the gauges and part of the lights seem to be working fine, but much more does not. The radio and all its components are not coming on at all as if they have no power, at least two lights on the wake tower not working, and worse part of all, when I turn the key to start engine I here one loud click ( possibly the relay?) but nothing else. Engine does not turn over or anything just the click. It sounds weird but it seems that anything to the left of the batteries ( direction of one set of wires) works, ex guages, courtesy light, etc. but everything that runs to the right of the batteries does not work, ex radio, some lights, engine, etc. Batteries are good and fully charged. Im new to this and any help would be great. Low budget and trying to avoid costly service charges. Thanks Russell

 

[Bt Doctur]

Do you know where the slave relay is? do you have a manual? Was it winterized properly? Are all the wires connected including the jumper cable between the neg posts of the batteries

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

Isnt the slave relay on the side of the engine, I think I know where it is. I do have a manual ( selco) and thats how I know about the relay. But it doesnt seem to address any of the other issues and very limited info on starting issues. It was winterized properly, but again, the engine doesnt even bump over it just clicks, so im not sure what the winterizing would have to do with that part ( but I am new to this) I believe all the wires are connected, I have checked and rechecked and cant find any that are not, and I even bought a new jumper for the batteries neg to neg, as the old jumper was pretty worn out.

 

[Bt Doctur]

a soft click would be a relay , a hard click/clunk would be the starter solenoid trying to spin over a seized motor. You should see a thick yellow/red and a thick red/ purple wire on the slave relay, jump those two and see if the motor spins over.

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

I think it is a soft click. By jumping, you mean run a jumper wire connecting the yellow/red and the red/purple, connecting the two ? then try to crank and see if the motor turns, correct? I am currently at work but will definetly try it when I get home around 5;30. Any other ideas I should be prepared to try if needed? and do you have any ideas on the other electrical stuff radio etc, maybe a fuse?

 

[sub2010ss]

I've always used a screw driver to jump across those terminals on the starter. Whatever you use, it has to carry some current and be easily removed. Once the connect its turning until its removed.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Yes, connect those two together and the motor should spin, that will confirm the cables are hooked up. If no spark and no spin, go back and look for the missing battery cable. Will be away from the puter but sending a cell

 

[achris]

Confirm you have the cables from the batteries connected correctly. The negative battery terminals should have the heavy gauge cable that connects DIRECTLY to the engine block, and it should be black. The battery positives should go to the battery switch, then to the main post on the starter motor, and it SHOULD be red. Beware on this, some cheap a.. installers will use the same colour for both. :facepalm:

What your problem sounds like is one or both batteries hooked up incorrectly. The other way to confirm is get a digital multimeter and put the black lead on the battery negative post and the red lead on the engine block. It should read 0v. If it reads 12v, then you have a cable on wrong. If it reads more than about 0.2v, (but way less than 12v), then you have a bad ground in the system between battery and engine.

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

Achris,
Thanks. I am pretty sure the cables you mentioned are all connected corecctly and the correct colors. But Im not sure about the extra cables and how they all connect to the battery switch. The regular marine battery is connected as you described, with a black jumper going from negative to the negative of the deep cell batt. There is also a small black wire connected to the ground post of the deep cell batt, ( not sure what it is or where it goes, but I can tell it had a connector added after market. I assume it is to the radio or something like that) The positive red gable from the positive post of the deep cell batt also goes up into the battery on/off switch. there is a large red cable from the switch straight down to the starter post, and a smaller red wire also coming out and running in the direction of the radio (maybe 14 or 12 guage) it has a fuse, I think maybe 40 amp but not sure. I thought maybe the switch was bad but when I turn on the battery I can here the bilge come on and the gauges and panel lights come on. but the radio and all of the components, booster etc, will not come on as if there is no power to them and there doesnt seem to be power to the engine. I thought of moving the small black wire to the primary batt to see if that helped but was scared i could damage something. I tried to make all the cables so I would get them back as they were but I could have made a mistake.
Bt doctur told me how to run a jumper straight to the relay and the boat engine turned over great, infact it cranked immediately. There was some thoughts that the fuse on the starter might be bad and the 50 amp circuit breaker as well. But after thinking about it i realized that even if those are bad it still doesnt explain no power going to the radio etc. But everything was working great when I put it up for the winter. The engine, radio, booster, lights, everything was great before I disconnected the batteries for the winter. I cant help but think that I just hooked something up wrong and not everything is getting power. or maybe even a blown fuse but I am def lost. I would just take to the boat mechanic but funds are pretty low right now and I cant help but think its something I did that can be repaired easly without spending a fortune on labor. Any help or ideas is greatly appriciated.

 

[Bt Doctur]

unless you have a dedicated wire coming from the battery or battery switch to the helm all of you power feeds from the main red wire in the harness . That's the reason the red wire coming from that fuse block on the starter must pass voltage to the 50A breaker. and then thru the wiring to the dash.

 

[Bt Doctur]

We tested using a jumper from the battery to the slave relay yellow/red wire and the starter turned. Tried jumping from the red/purple to the yellow /red and got nothing. . Hooked jumper to one side of the 50A breaker and shorted the heavy red/purple to the yellow/red and starter turned.
hooked jumper to red and orange at the fuse block , shorted slave wires got nothing
moved jumper to the other side of the 50A breaker and shorted the slave and got nothing.

So it appears the 90A fuse block is not providing power and the 50A breaker is not passing power either.

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

But if all the power has to go through that fuse block to get out to the rest of the boat, why does the guages come on and all the instrument and dash lights and forward and aft running lights come on? At my battery switch there are two heavy reds going in, one from each positive battery post, a heavy red coming out, to the starter post, and a smaller red approx 12 gauge coming out with what appears to be a 40 amp fuse just after leaving the battery switch. not sure where it goes but I think it goes to some type of 90 amp breaker mounted to the transom area, and then runs from there in a large group of other wires. It just seems really weird that somethings work and have power and others dont. Especially since everything worked great when the batteries were removed.

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

is the fuse block a plastic cover that contains a fuse? or is the block itself a fuse that and you have to replace the entire block ? And is it normal for everything to be fine when batteries are removed and have two different thing neededing to be replaced when you reconnect? I appreciate all advise im just trying to understand, lol

 

[Bt Doctur]

If you look at the diagram and foillow the red wires everything begins at the starters main lug, the battery cable, the main system power and the alt feed to charge the battery. Add corrosion. Now you have a poor connection .The way we tested it proves there is no power coming from the main red wire that is hooked to the block.
The second test proved there was no power coming from the main breaker and that gets its power from the red wire at that block.
We cant see what the battery switch has on it but you may be describing a feed to the dash and the tower.
That by itself would have nothing to do with cranking the motor. I have had corrosion between the wire connector and the stud resulting in no/low power.
For any type of power problem you start at the source and follow it until it stops. Then look there for the problem.

The only thing I would change on the wiring is hook the main red wire directly to the starter lug by crimping on a larger connector, and just put the alt feed to the fuse block. The reason is if the fuse should blow, the alt can run wild because its only connected to the wiring system and not the battery.

 

[Bt Doctur]

 

[BlueeyedRuss]

to replace the fuse block, is it all one part or is there a fuse that goes in the block? and if replacing those two parts returns all power to the engine will that also return power to the radio etc. the prop/ trim adjustment ( up/dn) are working fine now along with the guages

 

[Bondo]

to replace the fuse block, is it all one part or is there a fuse that goes in the block? and if replacing those two parts returns all power to the engine will that also return power to the radio etc. the prop/ trim adjustment ( up/dn) are working fine now along with the guages

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,...... Get a Test Light, 'n Check these things,......

Ya don't spend money on parts, til ya Prove the part ain't no good,....