Awesome weekend......not really...

[Bobby]

So we're headed out to Eufaula to my parents lake house on I-40. We're about halfway there and the passenger side tire on the trailer blows out. The tread literally ripped off. Against everything I've been told, I go out to replace it with the spare while on the side of the highway. It was kinda late so the traffic wasn't all that bad (also had a caravan of 3 cars behind me so we were plenty noticeable). The tire gets replaced and we made it out the rest of the way just fine.

We get out on the water the next day and have a good time, except the stereo isn't working. After some tinkering around I determined that the battery for the radio was bad and went to get another one from Wal Mart (no questions asked and got my free replacement :headbang: ) I took the girlfriend and her friends skiing afterwards and everything was just fine. Then I turned the boat off to let another skier get ready and when I went to turn the boat back on, the main battery was all of a sudden dead and had to be towed back in to shore. I charged that battery overnight and went out the next day to find that the boat overheats now and an exhaust flap is gone. I get towed back in just fine and let everything cool down. While it cools down we can still ski thanks to my parents boat which is a Ski Nautique :o .

Okay, now to the real problem - The boat cooled down and when I went to start it the battery had no power - the same battery that was charged overnight and took a charge just fine. Did overheating cause this problem or did something else? I had the stereo disconnected so nothing from that could have caused it to drain the battery. I'm thinking it could be the impeller or the water intake is clogged that causes the boat to overheat, but why is the battery losing power? I am stumped :confused:

[Mag_Red]

Sounds like a bad alternator. So where are the slimmie pictures??? We know you had an eventfull week-end..........but you said nothing about bad batteries in the camera. :D

[bcampbe7]

Sounds like a bad alternator. So where are the slimmie pictures??? We know you had an eventfull week-end..........but you said nothing about bad batteries in the camera. :D


Sorry to hear about your troubles Bobby but that was funny Mag!

I doubt an overheating engine caused your battery problems unless it overheated so much that you melted a starter wire or something. :confused:
Do you hear a click or anything when trying to start your boat?

[zberger]

sounds like either an alternator or bad wiring for the batteries...

you should take the alternator off and have it tested.

[Bobby]

No it would turn the motor over but very, very slowly.

As for the camera, I think I left it at my parents' lake house so the pics will have to wait.

[BriEOD]

Sounds like independent problems here Bobby.

First, you said you lost and exaust flap? Did it fall off or melt or what? How bad did it overheat? Have you checked your impeller yet? I start with the impeller and the raw water side of your transmission cooler (do you have a strainer?).

Second, as for the battery. Take a volt meter and make sure you have 12 VDC on the battery. If you do (not to sound condescending) make sure you have a good ground. Jiggle that negative cable. Is there any corrosion on either end of the cable? How old is that battery? Did you keep it charged over the winter? Start with the little stuff first.

[captkidd]

I would definitely have the battery checked. I've charged batteries before and the boat will start just fine in the driveway. I get to the lake, back down the ramp, and it's dead as Elvis. Not a good time to find that out.

[ski_king]

......and it's dead as Elvis.....
Elvis is dead?? :eek:

You have 2 batteries on your 84? Could you have a problem with the wiring or the isolator?

[Bobby]

Elvis is dead?? :eek:

You have 2 batteries on your 84? Could you have a problem with the wiring or the isolator?

Yeah I have 2 batteries- 1 for the stereo setup and the original boat battery. I should have the isolater setup correctly- I followed directions from the people on here and from a sound guy here at work. I'll go over it again to make sure.

The flap was lost on Sunday night (I think), the night before the overheating occurred.

The battery cables have no corrosion on them whatsoever. All the connections are good from when I installed the stereo a month ago. The battery in question is 4 years old but has always been stored indoors and maintained properly. I won't get time to work on it until tomorrow evening but keep the suggestions coming.

[Footin]

4 years is along time to get out of a boat battery. Put a volt meter on it, my guess is it will read about 10.2 volts or lower. This will tell you it has a dead cell and must be replaced.

[Scot]

don't forget about the starter... if it is pulling too many amps... it could kill your "good" battery. BTW, if it turns out to be the starter, and yours looks to be original equipment, have it rebuilt... I bought a new aftermarket marine starter that I was never happy with. After a "short while" after the new one crapped out, :mad: I had my old one rebuilt and works great... :twocents:

[Bobby]

the overheating problem turned out to be the impeller - it had only 2 blades remaining and the rest were shredded. The starting problem did turn out to be the starter - I took it to my dad's friend's place and he did a test where the starter did the exact same thing it did to me one the lake. Anyway- a quick rebuild later and it works just fine so if anyone else has that problem - I will agree with Scot to have it rebuilt; it's cheaper and just as effective.

[jimmer2880]

Glad nothing was really serious & you're back on the water already! :woohoo: