Starboard engine slow to crank

[Knight1396]

Hi everyone!

I have Twin 7.4 thunderbolt bravo 1 engines in my Regal 320.
My Port side engine turns over and fires right up, my Starboard engine
seems to click then if I run my starboard engine about 20 mins it will
slowly start to turn over.. til eventually enough to fire it up.

I checked the starter and have 12 volts there until I turn the key it drops.

I noticed that there are 3 ground wires coming from my battery charger..that were at some point taped together
to the ground wire off the charger.. these were not tightly taped or joined... so I connected them all solid..
then.. smoke from everywhere on the boat.. it started with the battery to my generator terminals, then to the Gen,
and then in the cabin behind the circuit board, I smelled the burning smell of electric, opened it up and the zinc saver was really hot and the grease pac had begun to melt..
This was happening on and off shore power..

Until this time, the boat has run good, no problems and just at once it started acting up ..
I am thinking time to pull it out of the water.. but any advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

Time to clean and polish the terminals.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

After all that smoke I would make sure your bilge pump still works if you are leaving it in the water

 

[Fun Times]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

My Starboard engine seems to click then if I run my starboard engine about 20 mins it will
slowly start to turn over.. til eventually enough to fire it up.

I checked the starter and have 12 volts there until I turn the key it drops.

Hi there, Sounds like you will want to check the condition of the battery. You may show 12 volts, but if the battery does not have the correct amount of cranking amps, then the engine is not going to have enough power to start correctly.

Also, you will now want to try following all the wiring you can from the engine area up to the cabin area looking for wires that may have been damage.

Keep us updated on your progress & Good luck.

 

[Knight1396]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

Hi there! So it turns out the Battery Isolator block had a short in it. I decided to upgrade my charger and replace the isolator. Had it out last night for a cruise and all went well!
All my terminals are very clean.. I keep them that way as a part of regular maintenance, My batteries, all 3 are new this year.. I ordered a new zinc saver and I have yet to look into the generator to see if any damage was done, it starts right up and runs however..
I did find a black ground wire that was melted under the isolator block that most certainly was smoking.. and I know the Zinc saver melted some of the grease causing the cabin smoke.. I plan to go over the entire electrical system this winter while the boat is in storage. I want to upgrade my dash board and simplify some of the wiring of previous owners..
Thanks for the input!

 

[alldodge]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

I noticed that there are 3 ground wires coming from my battery charger..that were at some point taped together
to the ground wire off the charger.. these were not tightly taped or joined... so I connected them all solid..

opened it up and the zinc saver was really hot and the grease pac had begun to melt..
!

I don't know of any battery charges which use seperate grounds for each bank circuit
The zinc saver is mostly an isolation circuit for sore power ground (Galvanic Isolator).
After connecting those wires together it was smoke on the water

Hi there! So it turns out the Battery Isolator block had a short in it. I decided to upgrade my charger and replace the isolator. Had it out last night for a cruise and all went well!

I did find a black ground wire that was melted under the isolator block that most certainly was smoking.. and I know the Zinc saver melted some of the grease causing the cabin smoke..
!

Starting to look like those 3 wires may not all be grounds, suggest tracing backwards. The zinc saver probably was used as a ground from the wire behind it and maybe in conjunction with the 3 wires. I suggest doing a lot of checking before upgrading the charger setup, something doesn't sound right.

My .07 worth due to inflation

 

[Knight1396]

Re: Starboard engine slow to crank

When I found those three wires under there, they were zip tied together.. they had the loop ends with a zip tie holding them together.. they were barely touching each other but were taped as well... I found it interesting that someone would use a zip tie to hold "ground wires" together so I assumed that the problem was, these wires not being tight together..made mental sense to me, engine turns over intermitently and slow and having voltage at the starter and on the battery.. ( not a mechanic of any sort here keep in mind) , I took pics if I can get them on this computer I will post them.. anyway the boat had run with no problem the way it was wired for a long time.. I didnt notice this little suprise til my head was stuffed into the 12"x12" space lol...the charger that was in the boat was the original charger and isolator..but I had a mechanic come down and he determined that the Isolator was the cause of the problem... he was confused by zip tie mess.. so he says he it will all be run new with the new charger.. I will most likey have the entire electrical system overhauled this winter.. where all problems will hopefully be solved.. I plan to keep this boat, its a great runner in fantastic shape, less than 300 hours on motors and we really enjoy it..

Thank you !! for your interest!! Learning here.. slowly but learning..