Augoose
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,223
I knew it was too good to be true. Got up early (06:00 am) with all the bass fisherman and took the bow rider out to catch some striper. Everything was going great, caught several, and then I decided to head in. Clean up my tackle, put away some gear and then tried to start the boat- "click".
I'm thinking, surely I didn't drain the battery sitting with only the fishfinder for 2-3 hours, so I switched to battery #2 (been down this road before so now I have 2 batteries with a perko swtich!). - "Click".
As the sinking feeling overcomes me, I switch to "all" to get whatever cranking power I can out of the batterys- "Click". So now I'm thinking my 1 year old starter / solenoid has bit the dust. I tried jumping the terminals, tapping, cleaning, whacking, praying, cursing, some more cursing, followed by some more praying, all to no avail. "Click".
So I break out the blackberry and search iboats- check the "ignition fuse, check the battery connection, check for a bad ground, check the breaker, jump this, jump that, look for power here, there and everywhere....(luckily I had a meter in my tool kit
). Couldn't find the "ignition fuse" but that didn't stop me from wasting time checking just about every fuse I could get my greasy fingers on. "Click".
According to my meter, the dash had power (swtiches, accessories, blower all worked) but the dash voltmeter read 0 volts. Now I'm not even getting the "Click", nothing happens when I turn the key. I've gone from bad to worse....:facepalm:
So its about 10:00 am, fellow fisherman are screaming by me to get back home while I drift with the dog house sitting in the bow, jump seats sitting on the lounge seats, and the whole boat looking like a gypse caravan. Finally I drift close enough to shore that a home owner notices me and asks if I need help - the answer is yes. At the same time a very nice couple who was entertaining another couple came by and asked if I needed help - they were SO KIND and towed me about a 1/2 mile back to the public dock.
So I'm back to the dock and planning on getting my 22 year old boat out of the water. I then realize I have another problem - I can't get my lower unit up because there is no power on that side of the boat. Having been down THIS road before as well, I work on getting temporary 12v to the proper terminal on the "up" solenoid so I can jump the solenoid and get the heck out of dodge. As I grab the 10 gauge line running from the starter solenoid to the trim system, I notice that suddenly I have power again. I try the starter - the engine turns over.
In my haste of earlier troubleshooting, I sold myself on the idea that my boat was suffering from a significant and very complicated electrical malfunction - a bad starter solenoid, bad slave solenoid perhaps.....nope - one of my negative terminals on my battery was corroded and had come loose. :facepalm:
When the problem first started, I checked the battery connections. Correction, I "visually" checked the terminals, and clearly that wasn't enough. I cleaned the connection, tightened it up and VROOM, the engine started right up.
I gathered what was left of my troubleshooting confidence, put the boat on the trailer and headed home to put my boat back together.
Just thought I'd share for a good laugh. I did however get the opportunity to return the karma favor to another boater who couldn't lower their lower unit - got him fixed and on his way.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Labor Day.
I'm thinking, surely I didn't drain the battery sitting with only the fishfinder for 2-3 hours, so I switched to battery #2 (been down this road before so now I have 2 batteries with a perko swtich!). - "Click".
As the sinking feeling overcomes me, I switch to "all" to get whatever cranking power I can out of the batterys- "Click". So now I'm thinking my 1 year old starter / solenoid has bit the dust. I tried jumping the terminals, tapping, cleaning, whacking, praying, cursing, some more cursing, followed by some more praying, all to no avail. "Click".
So I break out the blackberry and search iboats- check the "ignition fuse, check the battery connection, check for a bad ground, check the breaker, jump this, jump that, look for power here, there and everywhere....(luckily I had a meter in my tool kit
). Couldn't find the "ignition fuse" but that didn't stop me from wasting time checking just about every fuse I could get my greasy fingers on. "Click". According to my meter, the dash had power (swtiches, accessories, blower all worked) but the dash voltmeter read 0 volts. Now I'm not even getting the "Click", nothing happens when I turn the key. I've gone from bad to worse....:facepalm:
So its about 10:00 am, fellow fisherman are screaming by me to get back home while I drift with the dog house sitting in the bow, jump seats sitting on the lounge seats, and the whole boat looking like a gypse caravan. Finally I drift close enough to shore that a home owner notices me and asks if I need help - the answer is yes. At the same time a very nice couple who was entertaining another couple came by and asked if I needed help - they were SO KIND and towed me about a 1/2 mile back to the public dock.
So I'm back to the dock and planning on getting my 22 year old boat out of the water. I then realize I have another problem - I can't get my lower unit up because there is no power on that side of the boat. Having been down THIS road before as well, I work on getting temporary 12v to the proper terminal on the "up" solenoid so I can jump the solenoid and get the heck out of dodge. As I grab the 10 gauge line running from the starter solenoid to the trim system, I notice that suddenly I have power again. I try the starter - the engine turns over.
In my haste of earlier troubleshooting, I sold myself on the idea that my boat was suffering from a significant and very complicated electrical malfunction - a bad starter solenoid, bad slave solenoid perhaps.....nope - one of my negative terminals on my battery was corroded and had come loose. :facepalm:
When the problem first started, I checked the battery connections. Correction, I "visually" checked the terminals, and clearly that wasn't enough. I cleaned the connection, tightened it up and VROOM, the engine started right up.
I gathered what was left of my troubleshooting confidence, put the boat on the trailer and headed home to put my boat back together.
Just thought I'd share for a good laugh. I did however get the opportunity to return the karma favor to another boater who couldn't lower their lower unit - got him fixed and on his way.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Labor Day.
