Any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanx in advance.
Ok. Here's the story.
I took the boat out this weekend, launched it, loaded everyone into the boat. When i went to start it.. nothing. no juice, just click click. Damn battery is too weak to turn the engine. I asked everyone and their mother on the dock if they had a battery starter... no one did. I was getting desperate so i pulled my batttery from my car and swapped it with my boat's. Still the engine didn't start. Now here's where i messed up big time. When I went to put back my original battery, i accidently switched the positive and negative cables on the battery. All of a sudden, smoke billowed out from the engine area and the smell of burnt rubber was strong.
But in the end, someone gave me a jump start and we were off. It was running no problem for about 3-4 hours. I dared not to turn off the engine. But around the 3rd hour, the engine died on me. Luckily, the battery charged enough that i was able to restart the motor. We ran it for another hour and then it died again. That time, the battery was dead. I had to get another jump and we made it back to the dock area but the engine died again. Each time it died, it wasn't idle. I was actually driving slow.
Another thing i noticed is that if i was cruising around 30 mph, it felt as if the engine or transmission would not cruise but only for a second. Almost like gas wasn't getting to the engine for a sec but then it would return to normal.
Here are my questions:
If the battery dies while the engine is running, would that cause the engine to die? I heard somewhere that the battery is only needed to start the engine.
I know something must have fried when i swapped the battery cables but does anyone know what might have fried in the engine area? The boat did run after all the smoke. Was i lucky enough not to have to pay big bucks to repair this? Or is this the cause of my engine dying?
If the battery didn't charge after the second kill, does that mean my altenator is shot as well? I'm assuming it's the original battery so i'm leaning more towards the battery being dead.
The boat is a 1996 Mariah with a merc Alpha one 350hp I/O.
Please be gentle. it's my first boat and I know i screwed up. I bought the boat last year used.
Thank you for all your feedback!
Ok. Here's the story.
I took the boat out this weekend, launched it, loaded everyone into the boat. When i went to start it.. nothing. no juice, just click click. Damn battery is too weak to turn the engine. I asked everyone and their mother on the dock if they had a battery starter... no one did. I was getting desperate so i pulled my batttery from my car and swapped it with my boat's. Still the engine didn't start. Now here's where i messed up big time. When I went to put back my original battery, i accidently switched the positive and negative cables on the battery. All of a sudden, smoke billowed out from the engine area and the smell of burnt rubber was strong.
But in the end, someone gave me a jump start and we were off. It was running no problem for about 3-4 hours. I dared not to turn off the engine. But around the 3rd hour, the engine died on me. Luckily, the battery charged enough that i was able to restart the motor. We ran it for another hour and then it died again. That time, the battery was dead. I had to get another jump and we made it back to the dock area but the engine died again. Each time it died, it wasn't idle. I was actually driving slow.
Another thing i noticed is that if i was cruising around 30 mph, it felt as if the engine or transmission would not cruise but only for a second. Almost like gas wasn't getting to the engine for a sec but then it would return to normal.
Here are my questions:
If the battery dies while the engine is running, would that cause the engine to die? I heard somewhere that the battery is only needed to start the engine.
I know something must have fried when i swapped the battery cables but does anyone know what might have fried in the engine area? The boat did run after all the smoke. Was i lucky enough not to have to pay big bucks to repair this? Or is this the cause of my engine dying?
If the battery didn't charge after the second kill, does that mean my altenator is shot as well? I'm assuming it's the original battery so i'm leaning more towards the battery being dead.
The boat is a 1996 Mariah with a merc Alpha one 350hp I/O.
Please be gentle. it's my first boat and I know i screwed up. I bought the boat last year used.
Thank you for all your feedback!
