Stupid voltage problem

[bucknsteeler]

Looking for any and all advice with this issue, which occurred totally out of the blue. Perfectly running 2002 Outback w/ 5.7l stopped cranking during starting. All power at the instrument panel dropped to below 10v and creeps up to that level. The starter solenoid will buzz if the ignition is engaged. Starter and starter solenoid are good at go. Ignition is passing multimeter tests, ignition relay is good to go and I haven't been able to locate a poor ground. Has anyone ever had a similar issue or thoughts on what is disrupting the transfer of electricity and can anyone tell me if the dash reads the battery level or the power at the starter? Thanks in advance, this has been a real crappy first 5 days with my new boat :(

[zabooda]

Attempt to jump start the boat or connect to a known good battery and see if the boat starter turns over.

[trayson]

check the breakaway safety switch by the throttle?

The gauge checks the voltage by whatever chain of wires go from it to the battery. Probably after the distribution block. If you want to check your voltage at the battery, put your multimeter there. If you wanna check it at the starter, obviously put your multimeter there.

Wake boats are notorious for having crappy power to the dash (with all the piggybacking and daisy chaining of the wiring). But that wouldn't affect the starter circuit. That will have a line from the battery to the starter relay (if you have one) and from there directly to the starter.

[bucknsteeler]

Trayson it is so hard to read what you posted because that is everything I thought and tried! Wish this was simple fix. Thanks for the advice though for real. I don't comprehend the issue I have, which I why I am reaching out. The ignition relay is solid, no problems there......gates are closing, power is being transferred, all is well. I have taken to multimeter to 1,000,000,004 things and all reads correct....the batteries are at a cool 12.5v, the ignition has continuity everywhere, there starter and starter solenoid are giving correct measurements. I am curious if my battery selector switch failed on me, but I don't want to accept that because nothing happened to it, it just sits there....dry and untampered with. I do want to restate that the instrument panel voltage barely moves....it just creeps up to the 10v mark if it makes it there. The horn won't even work it just clicks. I am certain there is a problem between the batteries and the steering console but I don't know where to check anymore for continuity or shorts.

[SorryCharlie]

I have a 2015 Mojo and July 4th everything went haywire. I would turn the blower on and it would reboot the stereo. The stereo started making strange sounds and everything electrical was just weird. I looked at the batteries and they were 2 year batteries, they also checked out as clean. I had my son-n-law bring me 2 new batteries. BOOM, everything is fine now.

Don't know if this helps but just thought I would share.

[JamesEvans]

Trayson it is so hard to read what you posted because that is everything I thought and tried! Wish this was simple fix. Thanks for the advice though for real. I don't comprehend the issue I have, which I why I am reaching out. The ignition relay is solid, no problems there......gates are closing, power is being transferred, all is well. I have taken to multimeter to 1,000,000,004 things and all reads correct....the batteries are at a cool 12.5v, the ignition has continuity everywhere, there starter and starter solenoid are giving correct measurements. I am curious if my battery selector switch failed on me, but I don't want to accept that because nothing happened to it, it just sits there....dry and untampered with. I do want to restate that the instrument panel voltage barely moves....it just creeps up to the 10v mark if it makes it there. The horn won't even work it just clicks. I am certain there is a problem between the batteries and the steering console but I don't know where to check anymore for continuity or shorts.

What is the voltage to the ignition switch and out of the switch when turned on?
If you in fact are only getting 10 volts at the dash, there may not be enough power to trip the starter solenoid.
If you have 12.5 at battery and everywhere else, I would look towards the switch.
If you are getting 12.5 at the hot side of the switch and 10ish on the output side, switch is culprit.
If not getting the 12.5 at the switch, trace that wire back to where it gets it feed from.
Also, as Trayson said, check the safety lanyard switch. hook and unhook it a few times.
Pull the battery selector switch, and see what is coming in and going out on the common lug.
If you are getting 12.5ish volts anywhere in the boat, the selector switch will be good, its passing correct voltage.

I had an issue on my new to me boat where my volt gauge was reading about a little over 12, and perfect pass showed a little over 11. I pulled the perfect pass off of the tach to the ignition switch, and the ground to the distribution block under the dash. I also ran a fused connection from the distribution block to the ignition switch also. Now my volt gauge reads just below 14, and perfect pass shows 14-14.2.

I found the info about perfect pass being a voltage hog on this forum, and that it is usually piggy backed off the tach.

[gregski]

I'd also give a thorough cleaning and check of the connections at the batteries (and battery switch if you have one). A bad connection (high resistance) will still give continuity and therefore voltage but will be unable to pass sufficient current. I've seen plenty of bad connections that still work intermittently.

[bucknsteeler]

Thanks for the tips and suggestions all. The battery swap this is crazy. I messed with the dead man switch a bit and don't think that is the issue. I didn't inspect the battery selector switch much, just toggled through all the options. This weekend I am gonna look into the battery selector more and take the multimeter to the ignition again and probably disconnect all the pins and hit them with some steel wool. Will update Saturday or sunday and please keep sending suggestions they are all appreciated.

[Stazi]

When you talk about voltage at the battery, are you checking the battery posts themselves or are you checking the voltage on the battery connectors for your cables?Have you tried removing the cables and making sure there's no corrosion between them and the battery terminals?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bucknsteeler]

Stazi,
You nailed it. That made all the difference. Sorry so long for replying to all who looked for a follow up but......yea.....life with 5 kids. Anyways Stazi you nailed it and there was more involved as well. For anyone who encounters a similar problem this is what my situation was. First off the battery selector switch was wired incorrectly. Only the cranking battery went into the switch and the accessory (deep cycle) battery was wired in parallel with the cranking battery but not through the switch. Sooooo the cranking battery was taking on the load of everything even though the deep cycle was in the circuit. That resulted in the cranking batt building excessive corrosion between the post and terminal (that is what Stazi thought of and it was so minimal cleaning it didn't matter due to long term effects of this wiring problem) that wasn't significant but resulted in a cell being depleted in the cranking battery which in tThurn compromised the battery itself when it came to output power(AMPS). That's why a 12v reading was present but cranking power was not.
In short if you have this problem initially like I did, do your checks at the ignition, starter, and starter solenoid and if they check out.......get mad at yourself for not doing a thorough battery test. And if you buy your wake boat used, make ensure your batteries are tied into your battery switch the correct way!
Thanks for all the suggestions from all, Stazi...again...you nailed it, battery terminal and switch connection that had a long term effect on the cranking element.

[Stazi]

Stazi,
You nailed it. That made all the difference. Sorry so long for replying to all who looked for a follow up but......yea.....life with 5 kids. Anyways Stazi you nailed it and there was more involved as well. For anyone who encounters a similar problem this is what my situation was. First off the battery selector switch was wired incorrectly. Only the cranking battery went into the switch and the accessory (deep cycle) battery was wired in parallel with the cranking battery but not through the switch. Sooooo the cranking battery was taking on the load of everything even though the deep cycle was in the circuit. That resulted in the cranking batt building excessive corrosion between the post and terminal (that is what Stazi thought of and it was so minimal cleaning it didn't matter due to long term effects of this wiring problem) that wasn't significant but resulted in a cell being depleted in the cranking battery which in tThurn compromised the battery itself when it came to output power(AMPS). That's why a 12v reading was present but cranking power was not.
In short if you have this problem initially like I did, do your checks at the ignition, starter, and starter solenoid and if they check out.......get mad at yourself for not doing a thorough battery test. And if you buy your wake boat used, make ensure your batteries are tied into your battery switch the correct way!
Thanks for all the suggestions from all, Stazi...again...you nailed it, battery terminal and switch connection that had a long term effect on the cranking element.

Awesome. Glad to be of help. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk