210/Suzuki Elec Gremlins

[blakinsmith]

Figure the wealth of knowledge here can help me limit my troubleshooting. Off to crab, last weekend. Launch my 03 boat and the DF140 won't turnover. Made a clickity click sound just like a weak battery. However, engine tilt worked OK . Tried all Perko Batt switch positions. I tried my 9.9 kicker and it starts. I think, I'll run it for a while to help charge. Try big motor again, same result. Tilt now sounding weak. Helpful guy on the dock whips out voltmeter. Say's I have 13.5 on both batteries. Go to rear hatch terminals with voltmeter and says I have 13.5 there too. Tells me to try to start - doesn't register a big drop. Got jumper cables? Yep, go direct from batteries in console to rear terms, motor starts fine. He say's, "think you got a problem between batteries and rear posts." I do have a fair bit of green corrosion on aft hatch pos post, but has always looked the same. I think of the forum posts on perko switch and loose connections. Get the boat home, want to flush motor, have to go through same jump procedure. At least it isn't intermittent, I say! This AM, I go out and starter cranks fine after sitting for a week. Notice one other bizzare thing - you know how you turn key on (but not yet to start), you get buzzer and lights and tach needle registers engine hours before dropping to zero? Well it does the same thing when I use remote trim/tilt with key "on."

I can hunt around and look for loose connections/shorts but figured I'd throw it out. Haven't done anything lately other than hooking up GPS NMEA output to DSC radio and having 200 hour engine service done.

I'm a little skeptical of my underdeck wiring since like someothers, I've had the rear deck get full of water when my bilge switch failed. I've had to replace fuel sender 1 yr ago with corroded contacts.

Thanks in advance for any bright ideas ......Barry..."Bite Me"

[lakensea]

You have bad battery connections. Remove all connections, clean all corrosion, reinstall and coat with CRC battery protector. Do it now before you fry the engine management computer.

[Codfish]

Barry,

I'm with Lakensea, I would bet a dollar to a donut that it is corrosion on your battery terminals in the stern seat storage area. Remember that volts are a good indicator of a complete circuit. Amps are the real indicator of the health of that circuit. Somewhere your amperage is being lost. Corrosion is the culprit.

The trim switch thing is a little tougher. It is the switching on of power that causes the tach to go through the system check, so the trim switch must be shorting just long enough to make the system think it has been turned off and then back on again. Does that make sense? I would clean the switch terminals at the throttle handle. That is the likely place for corrosion to accumulate. My last boat had trim switch trouble due to the exposure to the elements. I am not impressed with the lack of waterproofness on the Suzuki handle either. Beyond that, you are on your own my friend.

Did you get any crabs?

Codfish

[blakinsmith]

Thanks for the replies Lakensea and Codfish. WILCO on cleaning and checking battery terms. My guess on the trim switch is that due to the apparently poor battery connections, the increased draw when using the trim drops the current to the starter circuit enough that it thinks it it was momentarily turned off.

I'll report back on my progress, but it will be into December with my travel.

Crabbing was excellent - just before the commercial opener. 3 limits of 10 each, 5 pots with 2.5 hour soak out of Half Moon Bay.

[Codfish]

You are the much smarter one. Your analysis of the trim switch makes the most sense, certainly more than mine.

Great job on the crabs too. Later, Dave.

[Codfish]

You are the much smarter one. Your analysis of the trim switch makes the most sense, certainly more than mine. I just noticed you were referring to the remote engine switch. I should pay more attention to the details.

Great job on the crabs too. Later, Dave.

[blakinsmith]

Wanted to give you guys an update: Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned the leads from my kicker, main motor, and DC power in the aft starboard hatch and then re-attached securely after coating with CRC. Again the connections seemed secure and there wasn't too much corrosion, but definitely a bit green on the positive DC lead from the chase. For good measure I then disasembled my Perko switch and tightened the connections a tad more. Then I re-secured all battery connections in the center console - I did not clean them as they looked excellent. I did find one SLIGHTLY loose connection on the pos term of Batt 1. I then turned the start switch on (but not yet cranking) and the tach needle went crazy - spooled all the way around to over 7K RPMs. Turned it off and repeated, same deal. I then tried the engine trim and saw the same condition as before - circuit acted like it was turned off and on. I then left the switch on and watched the tach needle slowly go back toward near zero (much slower than when power cut). At that point I decided I would try the engine and it started fine. Back to off, back to on and now the trim switch does not interfere. Repeated the process and started a couple more times. At this point everything works well, but I'm not completely comfortable. It was almost as if the engine computer had to be on for a bit to recal or go through some kind of BIT. I welcome any thoughts.......Thanks in advance......Barry

[MolarBoater]

Barry, I would do one thing first if you haven't already. Bypass the Perko switch completely to one battery. Recheck, if still odd things are happening, try another battery. If still problems, you have probably ruled out the Perko and possibly the two batteries but I have had double battery issues in the past even if they charged OK and tested normal due to my batteries sitting at an angle in the transome box (made a level battery cradle and fine since).

Check your grounds for contact/corrosion/tightness and you may have some bad battery cables. You may have a bad RPM switch or corrosion there. If you get into the replacement game, start with the cheapest fix first, usually cables or Perko switch, at worst you will have spares for the future. I have bought bad inexpensive batteries before at WalMart so stick with yellow heavy duties or go gel etc.

I bought Suzuki OME from Browns Point Marina online if you determine it is the tach. I just would not consider the motor unless all else fails.

[blakinsmith]

Problem solved! - Took the boat out Saturday and it worked ok. Sunday I did a thorough cleaning. Decided to look at the aft hatch area again. I noticed the pos battery lead from my main motor having more "flex" at the lug than it should. I unwrapped some elec tape the prior owner had installed at the juntions and found serious corrosion. I was able to "twist off" the lug without much effort. So I will cut off a couple inches, strip, coat with CRC and reinstall when I get a new lug. The instincts from this board have certainly helped me zero in on the problem - thanks.........Barrry

[Codfish]

Yahoo, looks to me more like it was your own abilities of resoning that got this solved. Way to go.

At least we were all on the right track.

Codfish