Re: Electrical problem in OMC 5.8
okay, just back from the lake and I have the results. This may be a bit lengthy but full of info. Batteries are Everstart 24DP (dual purpose) in a 1993 Four Winns Vista 245.
Arrived at the boat. Battery 1, boat not running was around 7 volts (do not have a digital tester) Battery 2 boat not running was a little over 12. Fired up the boat and battery 1 went to a little over 14. Ran it for a while at some higher RPM's and it stayed at the same reading. Dash gauge was initially reading around 11 with the engine running....increased the RPM's and the gauge went up to around 13--highest reading I could obtain. Turned some electrical stuff on (lights, blower etc) to purposely drain power while running the boat and noticed a slight dimming in the lights every 10 seconds or so. Shut the boat off checked battery 1 again on the tester it was around 10. Waited a few minutes and it was back down to 7 and didn't move. This was with no electronics on.
Battery 2 remained at the same voltage then entire time and was used to start the boat. I removed battery 1 (after removing a small shock which sucked) and returned to Walmart where it was purchased in June 09. It is an Everstart Battery. They placed it on their charging/analyzing system and said the battery was no good and provided me with a free replacement.
Now the question is, (1) was the dead battery causing the problem as battery 2 is fine, (2) problem with my alternator as it is not providing enough electricity, (3) bad voltage gauge on my dash. As I said battery 2 is fine the entire time and when running the engine on the batteries i'm showing over 14 volts. Sorry about the long post but I wanted to be thorough.
