Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

[hotwls13]

OK, I am a total Newb at this boat stuff. I just acquired my Father-in-laws 86 Galaxi (california) OMC I/O boat for free. He has had it for about 2 years, he took it out approx 5 times over a year ago, and it has been sitting since.<br /><br />Here are the issues I am working on:<br /><br />1. I thought the battery was shot, so I took it in and had it checked. Yep, DEAD! Anyway, I picked up a Marine Starting battery to replace it. Now, upon looking through this forum I am worried that I should have gotten a Deep Cycle instead? The boat doesn't have any extra stuff like CD/GPS etc, but it does obviously have some guages/blower/pump/lights.<br /><br />Am I going to have a problem running everything off of the Starting Battery? This boat is setup with just one battery not two. Will the alternator charge this battery while running?<br /><br />I have some other issues that I should maybe ask about later or in a different thread, but here goes:<br /><br />2. The last time my father-in-law took the boat out he was having a problem with it not shutting off when he turned the key off. He had to pop the distributor cap to kill the engine. So, he got a replacement ignition switch and in his haste he just disconnected the bad switch without labeling the connections. So, I have been trying to figure out how to wire the switch. I think i have it all right here is what I have done:<br /><br />Switch: Wire:<br />Bat Thick Red (Tested/validated)<br />ST Yellow wire/red stripe<br />Ign Thick Orange (only other wire not going to accessories)<br />Acc three different wires going to guages/switches<br /><br />Since my battery was dead, I could get a little reading on the guages/lights, but nothing on starting the boat<br /><br />3. The boat is leaking a light green/yellow fluid from the prop area(I guess it's called the Stern Drive). I don't think I have a cobra, what I do have is a 4cyl OMC with the rubber boot around the stern drive? I am taking the boat in to have the leak looked at and have them do a oil change/tune-up.<br /><br />Anyway, sorry for such a long post, I have been scouring this site for any info that would help.<br /><br />PS If I try to hookup the new battery tonight, would I be hurting anything by trying to start the boat? It's out of the water on the trailer. Do I need to run water through it somehow to prevent overheating? The only other craft I have had was a jetski and it had a hose jookup to cool the engine.

 

[tommays]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

You should be fine with one battery unless your going to be useing lights and such for a long time with the motor OFF<br /><br /><br />You drive should NOT be leaking oil and i would NOT run it until you sure its fixed and FULL as the upper section will be damaged FAST if its low on oil<br /><br />You can find out about this in the <br /> I/O FORUM <br /><br /><br />You must have water connected to the drive with the muffs like you see people use on outboards even cranking the motor will dammage the water pump<br /><br />tommays

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

If your Dad indeed killed the engine by popping off the distributor cap, you better have a new cap and rotor installed as I can't believe he got it off without damaging either one or both of those components. Pulling the coil wire would have done the job. Further, if the switch wasn't shutting off the engine, power was still going to the coil so thats what did the battery in and will continue to kill the battery unless you let the shop know what your dad didn't do and what you did. Check the big rubber boot as well. If its rotten, has holes in it, or otherwise in bad shape, your boat will need a very large bilge pump as a lot of water can come in through a torn boot.

 

[hotwls13]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

Tommays:<br />Good to hear the Battery I got will work. If later I decided to add a CD player, would it be better to have a deep cycle instead of the starting?<br /><br />If I ran the engine, it would only be for a second to see if my wiring was correct. I will wait though as i don't want to mess anything up. I will just have the shop do it after they have done the tune-up.<br /><br />As far as connecting water, how is it done? What are muffs? Sorry, but as I said, I am totally new to all of this.<br /><br />Upinsmoke:<br />I had already planned on having them replace the cap and rotor with the tune-up. I will add coil to the list.<br /><br />I will have them check the boot, as well as the rest of the boat for leaks etc.<br /><br />This free boat looks like it will be costing me a little, hopefully not a lot.<br /><br />Thanks for all the advice guys, keep it coming.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

86galaxie, while the engine's running, it powers the accessories & charges the battery...you can play CD's with the engine off for awhile with no problem...for how long...depends on the power requirements of your amp, state of the battery, the charging system, how hard it is to start the engine, yada yada yada...if you wanted to hang around in party cove all day, adding a deepcycle would be a good choice.<br /><br />Muffs on iboats. Connect to garden hose and slip over your outdrive to cover the water intakes.<br /><br />and welcome to iboats!

 

[hotwls13]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

Thanks JTexas.<br /><br />Good to hear my starting battery will be fine. Maybe I will add a cd and other toys later in addition to an extra battery.<br /><br />Thanks for the Muffs info. Now I see why they are called muffs. <br /><br />Can't wait to get this thing out on the water, I just hope I don't get stuck with a huge bill to get it there.

 

[hotwls13]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

I may need to start a new thread, but here's the problem I am having now.<br /><br />I have a new Starting battery, but when I hook up the ignition switch, I can't get the starter to engage. I have tested the wires. I have it hooked up as follows:<br /><br />Bat ----- Red hot wire from Battery<br />Ign ----- Purple wire from Coil<br />St ----- Yellow/Red stripe wire from Solenoid<br /><br />I have even tried jumping directly by hooking wires direct using test wires/lights. When I turn the switch, the test light/wires light up correct, but I don't get a start not even a click.<br /><br />I have verified the battery is giving 12v.<br /><br />I have Manually tested the starter by jumping it with a large screwdriver and it tried to start.<br /><br />I am thinking maybe the coil is shot. If that is the case, would that prevent the starter from starting?<br /><br />I got a little more info from my father in-law about what happened to make him change the ignition switch. While out on the Lake he turned the ignition off, but the engine kept running. They pulled the coil wire (not the dist cap like I previously thought). They went about there business on the lake and did this about 4-5 times.<br /><br />Now I am stuck trying to wire this thing and I feel like an idiot.<br /><br />Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[swist]

Re: Marine Starting Battery is all I need??

They make combination deep-cycle and starting batteries - that's what I've used on small single-battery boats. Unless your boat has virtually no accessories that can run while your engine is off, I wouldn't use a plain old starting battery - their life shortens very quickly if they are allowed to discharge, even partially, too often.<br /><br />Unless you have a 500 HP CAT Diesel or frequently start your engine at -20F no boat really needs a pure starting battery.