dead battery or something else?

[f4igrad]

for those who have seen my other posts, I have recently finished reinforcing the stringers, foaming under the floor, replacing the floor of my 1975 Thundercraft. Today I was going to take it out and see if all was right in the world again. I tried to start it in my driveway just to make sure it would start, and I ran into a problem.

The boat hasn't been run in a month and a half. I took the battery (almost brand new) off and stored it in the garage while I was working on the boat. I also ran the engine with the gas line disconnected to make sure the gas wouldn't sit in the carbs for all of this time. Fast forward to today, I hooked everything up and tried to start it. It turned over almost immediately, then it died (forgot to have the idle up!!! DOH!!). I tried to start it again several times and it wouldn't turn over. The battery sounded nice and strong. I tried to start it one more time and all I got was a "click" from the solenoid, nothing else. Tried several more times and only got the "click." I checked the voltage on the battery, it is 12.5 volts when resting, and it drops to 10.2 volts when I try to start. Does this sound like the battery needs a charge (which is what I am doing right now) or could it be another issue? The positve and negative cables felt very warm after all of this, and I looked them over to find that the positive cable was frayed in some areas (exposed wire). I don't think this was the problem today, but I am going to buy new cords and replace them tomorrow. Anything else that you would look into?

Finally, assuming I get the battery thing worked out, do you have any tips on getting the engine to turn over? I have the choke turned on and the idle turned all the way up.

Thanks for the tips!!!

 

[DJ]

Re: dead battery or something else?

I have no idea what engine you have. But, grounds are critical on outbaords. They tend to coorode easily because of the aluminum blocks.

Remove the negative battery lead from the block and clean it thoroughly.

 

[Walker]

Re: dead battery or something else?

12.5 volts is low. A fresh battery should have 13plus. Did you by any chance have it sitting on concrete when in your garage. That will drain one in short order.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: dead battery or something else?

sorry, i have a 1973 Evinrude 40 hp.

I am replacing the ground wire and I will make sure that it is solidly attached. I am not sure the ground is the problem, because it cranked and cranked just fine for the first several tries, then it suddenly started making a "click" noise when I turned the key.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: dead battery or something else?

yes, it was sitting on the concrete floor in my garage for the past 4 or 5 weeks. I have it on the trickle charger out there right now.

 

[Phillip]

Re: dead battery or something else?

ouch concrete floor is REALLY bad for the battery. :/

 

[f4igrad]

Re: dead battery or something else?

is the battery worthless now? I am going to buy a second one at Wally World tonight, just to have as a backup. I hope I didn't ruin my $$$$ 800 cranking amp battery.

 

[DJ]

Re: dead battery or something else?

The battery may be dead, but you can recover it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: dead battery or something else?

dirty connection will make the cables hot.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: dead battery or something else?

You can connect a jumper cable directly from the + terminal of the battery to the terminal lug on the side of the starter motor. If the starter works, that should tell you that you have a faulty connection between the battery and starter.

 

[Seasport]

Re: dead battery or something else?

Can't for the life of me see why sitting a battery on concrete has any effect on it at all.

A quick test to isolate whether you have a starter motor problem or a cabling problem is to measure the voltage directly at the starter motor when you are turning the key and nothing is happening.

Put the red probe of the meter on the starter motor +ve terminal and the black probe on the case of the starter motor. If this reading is greater than about 9.5V suspect a starter motor problem. Easiest if you have someone else to turn the key for you while you take the measurements.

If the voltage is less than 9.5V you are dropping volts somewhere else. Check and clean all of the connections from the +ve battery terminal to the starter solenoid (including the battery switch if fitted) and from the solenoid to the starter motor.

Check & clean also the -ve battery terminal & powerhead ground connection.

If this doesn't fix the problem, you've either got bad cables or faulty solenoid. I can provide more detailed testing instructions if you need them.

 

[f4igrad]

Re: dead battery or something else?

ok, i am going to try everything out tomorrow afternoon. I am recharging the old battery right now (also heard from 2 people here in town that putting a battery on concrete is a bad thing), so hopefully that is the problem. I bought a second battery as well, to have as a backup. I have had problems with the starter before, specifically one of the brushes had come loose, so I soldered it back in place. I guess the brush could have come loose again, but we will see tomorrow when I try to start the boat on a fully charged battery.

Assuming it is the battery, do you have any tips on getting the engine to start up when it hasn't been run in a long time? Should I spray some fuel in the carbs? I have heard about this before, and I have a spray bottle, but I am not sure where exactly I should spray the fuel mixture. Is there a spot on the carb that I just spray into, or do I have to remove part of the carbs? Also, should I spray the fuel in while I am turning the key, or should I do it beforehand and then turn the key afterwards?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: dead battery or something else?

try the normal starting sequence below before you start taking things apart. you have to remove the air silencer and spray directly into the open carb. besure to use the 50-1 gas mix. you can
give it a good spray and then crank.

normal starting sequence on cold engine. connect gas line, pump bulb till hard, advance idle throttle (lift lever) if you have choke button push it and hold or push in on the key hold key in and turn to crank.let it crank several times if no start pump bulb again an repeat sequence. if it doesn't start , time to investigate why. check if plugs are wet or dry, and if you have spark on all plugs. good luck.

 

[battery]

Re: dead battery or something else?

A battery sitting on concrete will not be any different than it aitting on anything else. I thought the same thing until I got into the battery business. years ago when batteries were made of different material there were problems, however when they made them out of plastic that solved the problem. So now it's just a myth.A fully charged battery is 12.65 ocv. it all as to do with the specific gravity of the acid.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: dead battery or something else?

Yup - batteries on concrete is no longer an issue but it used to be when cases were made of hard rubber and variations of it.