No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

[elltee11]

I have a 1996 Four Winns 258 Vista with a 5.7 liter Mercruiser (351 Ford) power plant with 275 hours. Bonehead move of leaving some house switches on left my two 30 series batteries (dual wired, so both can start and run house functions dead. Could not recharge, therefore I bought a new (one) marine cranking battery and installed in slot one to give the alternator a chance to "charge" the batteries. Boat started perfect and off I went. A few minutes later and still within the no-wake zone, my temperature hit 210 (190 or so degree thermostat). Not the problem, stuck termo. So, I shut off the engine to avoid overheating. When I went to restart, I had zero power to the dash and motor. All other functions were working. I opened the engine cover to see that the wires at my ECC (the module where you would hook up the computer to run codes in a car) were all fried and melted. Has anyone heard of this? Did I fry the entire electronic system for the motor? Was there supposed to be a fuse to stop this? The battery was hooked up exactly the way the prior one came out. I have to get this fixed shortly as I can not get the boat out of the water at its present location without help from the engine.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

is this a 5.7 or 5.8 L motor. the 5.8 was a ford and the 5.7 a GM. I was not aware merc was still running fords in 96.<br /> try to post the engine seriel #.

 

[Don S]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Mercruiser stopped using Fords in the late 70's. Volvo on the other hand started using Fords when they started the "Joint Venture" with OMC in 94, when Volvo finally bought them out, they dropped Ford that same year.<br />So, if you have a Volvo instead of Mercruiser, it would still be helpful to have the engine serial number, if it is a Mercruiser it's a Chevy 5.7.<br />Look at the distributor, is it on the back or front of the engine?<br /><br />

Has anyone heard of this?

Basically, shorts cause melted wires, that or laying on a manifold that didn't have water to it and caused the engine to overheat.<br /><br /><br />

Did I fry the entire electronic system for the motor?

Hard to say without some troubleshooting. <br /><br /><br />

Was there supposed to be a fuse to stop this?

Hard to say since we don't know if it's Ford, Chevy, Merc, or Volvo

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Sorry about the bad data - Can't find the owner's manual, must be on the boat - I did find the warranty card - 1995 5.8 EFI OMC - Engine Serial Number 1280531 - The engine room is immaculate and clean as the day it came off the showroom floor - The boat has been surviced in Michigan twice a year before moving to Baton Rouge this summer - No loose or hanging wires were/are touching the manifolds. If facing the front of the engine, the melted wires are on the top left where all electrical wires appear to come into the "computer." Thanks a million for any and all help.

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

I guess the main question in a nutshell is this: If the wires connecting the ECC adapter to where you plug in the machine to read codes are melted, why has all electrical power been lost? Is there a breaker or a fuse that has been tripped? I searched everywhere and could not find such an item. Remember no power to the dash or motor. All house functions, trim, tilt, tabs, lights, pumps, etc. work.

 

[Don S]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

I'm not that familiar with the Ford setup, so can't give you any specific info on locations, but I can tell you the tabs, lights, pumps, blowers etc. are on seperate circuits to the helm.<br />There are also fuses and circuit breakers on the engine and the instrument panel. you will have to get a meter and start testing where the power is lost.<br />Check with your local Volvo Penta dealer for a manual on your engine. You will need the model number (Not one of the ones you gave)that should help locating all the items shown in the image below. Or, find the model number and I can look up the proper manual for your engine. Here is a link to locate the proper number on your engine.<br /><br /> Volvo Engine ID <br /><br />

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

I would say someone before you, had a VERY BAD habit of continously reseting the computer breaker each time it tripped off while still hot. This practice can DEFINATELY cause a breaker to short circuit to permanatly ON. You are a victim of the previous drivers in my book.--------2 other things. Check and or replace the fuses or circuit breakers before putting in new stuff or powering on.

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Don - I think we're on the right track - model number on the warranty card reads "58FAPHU." Thanks.<br /><br />Cyclops2 - the prior owner was my father-in-law and he never, ever, under no circumstances ever lifted the engine cover. The boat was professionally serviced and maintained after every use. He put about 125 of the 275 hours on it over a nine year period. Sad to think such a fine boat sat in the marina!!! But, you have a good point. Can I just reset a computer breaker?? If so, any ideas where this would be located. Thanks.

 

[Weirdwalt]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

not before you repair the melted mess.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

I don't think your ECC.ECM,or what ever else we call these onboard/inboard computers can fry the wires going in or out.They basically read sensors,and send responces.I will admit newer fuel injection systems are running 40 volts and more.And now they are water cooling them.<br /><br />I think the overheat problem melted your harness,and it fed thru the system.Does the harness go near and along side the exhaust manifold ? That get's hot.<br /><br />DHP

 

[Don S]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

The service manual you need is Volvo PN 7788852, it will have the wiring diagrams for checking things out "BEFORE" you put power to it again.<br />You could have any number of problems, bad circuit breaker, bad relays, shorts of some sort, but all are going to take some carefull diagnosis to locate the cause of the problem. Just resetting a circuit breaker is not going to fix what caused the melted wires. Doing any troubleshooting on it at all without a manual is going to be impossible.<br />If you are not familiar with using a DVM, and troubleshooting electrical systems in general, you would be best to have a pro look at the EFI system to diagnose the problem.

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

The computer can definately fry all the wires attached to it. A short in it can sequencely short all the wires if power is not turned off by a fuse or circuit breaker fast enough. When that happens it is almost impossible to determine who or what part caused the final meltdown. Don S can probably remember a whole dash harness melting in the old days?? ( before good fusing was available ).

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Thanks to all. Next step is getting the boat out of the water somehow. FYI - the wires are not located against or close enough to the manifold to melt. In fact the motor was only above 190 degrees for less than a few seconds. The ends of the wires at the ECC adapter melted. All other items are clean. The only variable different that day is that I put in a "cranking" battery, instead of the recommended dual purpose battery. No other issues were different. The termostat had stuck several days before, but after shutting down the engine it corrected itself. In all actuality, the heating problem could be an impeller issue. But, that is the least of my worry at the time. Again, thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

I just thought that may have been the problem.<br />Keep us posted,<br /><br />DHP

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Anacroym for BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand - I hope in my case it's not BOATTT - Break Out Another Two or Three Thousand!!!

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Don and the rest. What would it cost him to get the melted harness from another boat or new, so he would not have a problem with overheated copper or the butt-splice gang?--------------- Do it rightest the firstest time.

 

[Mechlawrence]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

My inlaw's boat did similar trick. Motor ran hot, melted wiring, wiring shorts to self and ground, Fried Fusible Link type circuit protector at starter. Main Batt wire went from Batt to Batt switch to Starter and from there to everything else. His was a Merc 350MAG and the starter has a plastic spacer looking thing on the main batt wire connector and that's where the fusible link is.<br /><br />Lawrence

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

Great, thanks, I'll check that out. But I'm not thinking it is starter related. Remember I have absolutely no power to the gauges. The computer is not sending any information to the dash. Turning the key does absolutely nothing. I'm so lost here. My boat is the Baton Rouge, LA area and I just moved to Houston. Can anyone at all suggest a reputable Four Winns or OMC mechanic in the Houston area? I would much prefer to take it to someone who conducts warranty work for Four Winns.

 

[Mechlawrence]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

The Fusible link type protector that I'm talking about is on the main power wire from the battery. Think of it as an inline fuse that happens to be mounted on the starter. Battery wire on one side and the wires on the other side are the + voltage feed for nearly everything else on the boat. A test light connected to a ground will tell you real quick where the voltage is stopping at.

 

[elltee11]

Re: No power to engine - batteries charged - ECC fried

About ten inches above ONE of my batteries and before going to the battery switch there is a fuse. I checked this and it did not blow. I'll play around with the starter and update my progress.