[lexus423]

Hey everyone,

So after I had to get towed back the other night I went out to my boat to see if the engine would start. Sure enough it did right away. However after idling for about 3 minutes it died and I could not get it started again. The voltage on both my batteries is very low and I was wondering if this could be the culprit.

Would a low voltage cause the motor to shut off after it has already started? My main concern is how both batteries seem to have died at the same exact time. Both are reading low voltage. Is this normal? Is it time for new batteries or a charge? or is it something else?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need to get fishing again!!

 

[Bigkeepers]

What kind of motor do you have?

What kind of boat do you have?

What kind of wiring set up (switches, chargers) do you use?

If you have an EFI then absolutely you need to charge those batteries up and get them load tested. If it is an old school 2 stroke carbureted outboard then the batteries don't need to be hooked up at all once the motor is running. The motor technically can be pull started if you have a gorilla on board who can pull the cord around that fly wheel.

Give more info and you'll get a bunch of responses.



This post edited by Bigkeepers 11:47 PM 06/19/2008

 

[lexus423]

It is a 2002 Johnson 150 hp, direct injection on a 21 foot Seaswirl Striper. I do not have any chargers as of right now, but will definetly invest in one.

 

[FischerMan21]

My father had the same issue with his Johnson 175 last season. After going through everything with a fine tooth comb (including the power heads and all the other common issues) I decided to check the wiring of the engine. Sure enough I found behind on of the plastic covers inside the engine there was a short on where there appeared to be arching between two wires. The short occurred on the wire that controlled the kill switch. Im not sure if this is your problem but it might be a good place to start.

 

[lexus423]

Thanks for that. Where was that wire located, how do I know which controls the kill switch?
Also, do you know where the alternators are on these engines?

 

[FischerMan21]

thoes wires came down from the power head and were behind a little plastic cover. It was pretty much at the major junction of the wires before they fed into the power head. The plastic cover was held on by one or two little screws and appered to olny be there to keep the wires tucked in. off hand im not sure where the alternater on yuor model would be but if you send me a pm ill send you a couple links to some good forums that will pry help you out a bunch.

 

[qlty]

lexus423 wrote:
Hey everyone,

So after I had to get towed back the other night I went out to my boat to see if the engine would start. Sure enough it did right away. However after idling for about 3 minutes it died and I could not get it started again. The voltage on both my batteries is very low and I was wondering if this could be the culprit.

Would a low voltage cause the motor to shut off after it has already started? My main concern is how both batteries seem to have died at the same exact time. Both are reading low voltage. Is this normal? Is it time for new batteries or a charge? or is it something else?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need to get fishing again!!
Here is a site that has a lot of info.be sure to state your engine make ,HP,& model #
http://www.marineengine.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics

 

[Bigkeepers]

Don't forget those batteries too! Direct injection is controlled by a computer (ECM) and bad batteries will also effect the motor. If you have wingnuts on your batteries throw them away and get the proper size hex nuts with lockwashers (3/8" on the + side 5/16" on the - side.) The batteries won't charge properly without those nuts being torqued on real good. Not gorilla strength tightened but something along the lines of 10 ft-lbs. The lock washers keep the nuts from backing off anyway.

The arcing wires is also something I'd look at. Sounds to me like something that got screwed up at the factory and could be a problem on more than one motor. You can't go wrong by investing in a good repair manual for your motor either. Seloc ones are good. They not only help you troubleshoot problems but give you step by step procedures for routine maintenance like spring start ups and winterization. These days every cent you save helps in the long run and doing stuff yourself that you can handle saves you $100/hour + parts.

 

[lexus423]

Thanks for the info guys. I charged the batteries up and the boat started right up. However it would only stay running at 1000+ rpms. Everytime I brought it back to idle it would die. And then has a hard time starting back up. Any ideas?

 

[Bigkeepers]

Do the batteries crank well while you try to get it started or does the starter turn slower and slower? You may have a fuel problem as well. With DI motors the computer handles spark timing, injection timing, etc. You have all kinds of sensors and things too. One of those could be bad as well. Without a repair manual troubleshooting is going to be difficult. You need to either troubleshoot the electric side of it or the fuel side. Eliminate one and you have your problem half solved. I wish I could offer better advice but troubleshooting is a difficult thing at times. Perhaps it would benefit you to buy a portable 6 gallon gas tank, fill it with fresh gas and run the motor with that. If your problem disappears then you may have bad gas in your boat's tank. I'd still have those batteries load tested unless you are sure they can crank a whole lot and not lose their moxie.

Of course all my advice could be totally wrong. I don't remember much about Johnson DI motors