battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

[artbrown]

I have an 89 bayliner ciera sunbridge 2455 with a omc 5.7 litre. I have been loosing battery charge while running the boat. I have replaced the alternator but still have the same problem. Has anyone seen this type problem before?

 

[vipzach]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Check all the cables, tight, clean, no corrision. Take the battery and have it checked. You probly have a battery that is low on fluid or has a cell going bad or is bad. Either way check the cables and have the battery checked. Also check that the alternator is good. It sucks to have a dead battery out on the water!

 

[artbrown]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Thanks for the reply vipzach. I have checked all those items. Maybe some intermittent short?...some damaged isolation component?

 

[vipzach]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Have you tried replacing the cables? Try pulling them off and checking continiuty (probly miss spelled) through them. Welcome to iboats. Someone will come along and think of something obvious I am missing.

 

[KaGee]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

You never mentioned checking with a DVM (digital volt meter). Without one and a wiring diagram, you can chase this and throw parts at it for a long time. <br /><br />Battery losing charge...<br /><br />Something pulling an excessive drain or...<br />System Not charging properly or...<br />Bad battery.<br /><br />Could be as simple as a wire connection, or possibly a component failure. But ya have to troubleshoot and isolate... not throw parts at it.<br /><br />Oh, and welcome to Iboats.

 

[chuckz]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Get a voltmeter.<br /><br />Check the battery before starting the engine. The voltage should be approximately 12.2 volts. If it's in the 11 volt range or less, get a new battery.<br /><br />Start the engine. The battery voltage should rise to 14.7 volts. If not, the alternator isn't working. It could be a broken wire, a bad regulator or a bad alternator.<br /><br />Make sure to check the ground wires. Take them off, clean them and re-attach.

 

[artbrown]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Isolating would be the idea, but... i bought this boat used recently and have discovered the owner's manual for this year is no longer available. That would be the next question.... Does anybody have one?<br /><br />Thanks for the great idea LI Chuck, I will do this.

 

[BRG25]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

The owners manual ain't going to help you with this. Start with what Chuck suggested...

 

[KaGee]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

LOOK HERE For your service manual for your OMC.

 

[trog100]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

put a volt meter on the battery terminals with the engine running.. it should read 13 to 14.5 volts..<br /><br />if it dosnt (reads 12-ish or less) your alternator.. new or otherwise.. aint charging your battery..<br /><br />i find it hard to imagine a situation with a new working alternator and a good condition battery.. where the battery keeps going flat while the boat is being used unless u have something like an inverter running lots of auxilary equipment..<br /><br />trog100

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

An aftermarket manual such as Seloc would be better than nothing at all. They have diagrams and text describing how the alternator and charging system work. A multi-meter (DVM) is a must for working on something like this. One thing you could tell us, is this a new single wire alternator, or is it still the multi wire ? I would start at the output terminal of the alternator with it running...you should see over 13.5 volts there......if so...follow the output wire and voltage through any isolators to the battery....if not look at the alternator and if it is multi wire at those wires and circuits.

 

[artbrown]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Commandatory Bon Juorno!! Thanks for the link.<br />Probabaly worth the investment.<br /><br />Anybody have a bayliner maual? Wiring Diagram?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

ya dont need a diagram from bayliner. ya need an engine service manual. the old 3 wire altenators used a sense circuit, an exitaion circuit and an out put. no inputs no outputs. test the system in accorance with the engine maanufactures manual if the altenator is a factory design. the more modern single wire altenators are self exciting.<br /> there are some good books on charging systems and how they work and why they dont sometimes. so buy a book and a DVM and do some research. a decent DVM can be obtained aat radio shack for under 30 dollars. do you currently have a DVM ?<br /> dont look for shorts. short circuits are easy to find. look for the smoke. if the battery is good and the altenator is good and you have a short you will also have a blown fuse, a tripped breaker or a lot of whitish looking smoke. my guess would be on an open circuit, if its actually wiring.

 

[Don S]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Here is a wiring diagram for your engine, and it's from an OMC manual, not the Bayliner owners manual. If you would like to get an owners manual for your boat, you can call Bayliner toll free at 877-861-6494 and give them your HIN and they will send you a copy of the owners manual for free.<br /><br />

 

[bigbrownbuku]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

what do you have running while you are running the boat? be specific, stereo/amp 4 speakers etc.<br />what amperage is your starter.

 

[artbrown]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

DonS, thank you for the diagram. That is a big help!!!<br /><br />BenC, I don't have anything running on the boat other that what is required to run the boat.<br />I will try to determine the starter rating.<br /><br />I noticed the alternater on the boat now is a 12V 63 amp. Does anyone know if this is the correct rating?

 

[Don S]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

There is nothing wrong with using a 63A alternator, of course you might blow the 50A fuse between the assist solenoid and the starter if it tries to put out over 50 amps.

 

[artbrown]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Thank you again for the print. You are awesome. <br /><br />I have been looking at your print and am curious about the assist solenoid. Do you know what it does? Can you bypass this with the ignition key?<br />If you bypass the assist solenoid and blow the left-hand 50 amp fuse, the only problem you would have is the battery not charging. Is that right?

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Atr, the assist solenoid is used for starting only. If your engine cranks over the assist solenoid is fine. In the diagram above they are using the "hot post" on the assist solenoid as a convienient place to connect the alternator output wire to the battery circuit. If your boat is wired as the above diagram, if the 50 amp fuse "on the left" was open or "blown" you would not be able to crank the engine.

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: battery loosing charge on omc 5.7

Atr, do you have a dvm or some kind of dc volt meter ? Does this boat have more than one battery ? If so, is it equipped with a battery isolator to charge both the starting and house battery from the alternator? Also, please look above at the post from Rodbolt, and myself, we are both trying to tell you to look at the source of the voltage and follow it.....as rodbolt said you need to see if (with the keyswitch on) if you have voltage at the sense and excite terminals of the alternator.....if so....start the engine....do you have 13.5 or above volts at the output of the alternator ? If so, follow from there.....if any of those are not right, please post back what you have so we can help.