F36 Tri Cabin - Electrical Issues

[marklo154]

Hello Everyone,
Well after a few small repairs I put my f36 tricabin in the water on the weekend and everything went good- well at first that is .

Installed the batteries just as they where last year, i referenced some pictures I took last year before disconnecting everything, Check oil etc etc. Fired up one engine with no issues, second one fired after awhile which was no different from last year carb needs some work . I ran the motors a good 20 minutes everything seemed ok water out the exhaust etc.

So I shut everything down call it a day go back the next day try to fire the engines and it seemed like all batteries are dead. I charge all the batteries, have them tested there all good. re install same thing, its acting like batteries are almost dead when starting .


So my question is . Where do I start with my trouble shouting? Please keep in mind I`m very new to all this.

Thanks In advance.

[captainmaniac]

First of all - what do you mean by 'it seemed like all batteries are dead' ? No crank, slow crank, or ??? Did you try any of the DC accessories (lights etc) or test voltage when you had the problems, and what did you find?

[marklo154]

Slow crank would best describe it, but after about 10 seconds of that there is nothing this is after re install the 3 batteries fully re charged.

As far as testing I took them out and brought them to Canadian Tire and they put them on the tester and they all came back ok. All the DC accessories lights etc. seem ok , not even dim.

[captainmaniac]

Pull your spark plugs and try to crank it. See if any difference in behaviour. If it still won't crank, look in to the starters or cabling to them (or a bad short somewhere). If it does crank okay with no plugs in your problem is compression or back pressure - hate to say it, but if you have cracked an exhaust manifold you may have water in the cylinders - that will result in what you are seeing. Had the delight of experiencing this myself years ago.

[marklo154]

Cracked exhaust manifold doesn`t sound like much fun. I will try the no plugs and see what happens. Seems electrical to me because is both engines.

[captainmaniac]

Seems electrical to me because is both engines.

We can hope its just a bad ground or excessive draw somewhere...

[AndyF32]

For what is is worth here is what I would do:

Disconnect the cabling until you have a direct line from the batteries to one engine and see if it will start.

If it does, start rebuilding the electrical connections until it wont start.

Clean each connection well as you reassemble the system. Look for corrosion at the terminal ends of the cables...usually a green or white powdery substance. Also bend the wires and look for areas where the cable kinks or the insulation looks swollen indicating a bad cable.

Another trick is to feel the cables after trying to start and see if any connections are warm.

Good luck

[marklo154]

Pulled all the plugs checked all batteries for full charge. Turned the key a same result. Went from a slow crank to dead in about 10 seconds. One other thing I notice is the negative cable coming of the one battery was extreme hot to the touch after this 10 second crank. I checked the oil it is at its normal level. Doesn't show any signs of water on the dipstick. ?????

[rooferdave]

hot cable = poor connection, you can either swap the suspect ground cable for a new one or borrow one off your genset, but first clean the connections at each end. are you sure you have connected your batteries correctly? I would actually separate the two batteries aat the mutual ground and your emergency solonoid and see if it still heats up. One more thing would be to get a set of booster cables and connect them from your heating up battery terminal to your block and try to crank, if it is in fact a bad ground adding this temp additional ground should cure your problem and show if it is in fact a ground issue

[Commissionpoint]

Sounds like pretty classic signs of a poor connection. Go with one engine, one battery, no accessories, and good cables and build up from there making sure each time you add something that good connections are made and quality materials are used. You'll get it, and likely learn a little something about your Trojan in the process.

Good luck.

[marklo154]

Tried the jump cable ground, no luck. Hooked everything back up now I get no crank on the one engine and now when I try to start the other engine after a few seconds of cranking the radio turns on full blast turn it off crank it again and radio back on. THIS IS getting very strange. I have double checked my connections and cross referenced them with the photos I took last year and its the same.
Could it be the starter ? Solidnoid ? The thing that gets me is when I first started it everything was normal and then the next day all of this. I havnt changed anything and the connections to the batteries are pretty straight forward.

How can I wire just one engine for a start up ?


Thanks for every ones

[AndyF32]

Try posting the pictures of your set up. It sure points to a bad connection or a bad cable. I have heard of the emergency cross connect switches going bad. Not sure if you have one of those.

[rooferdave]

the radio thing sounds like a crossed wire, for one thing try your emergency start button, it is on the lower helm dash area it will be a push button, when you push it you should hear a click as the solonid switches, this will in essence marry your two batteries. While holding the button down turn the key and see if the engine cranks. If not take a test light and clip the clam end to the neg side of your battery and the probe end to the big nut on your starter, next clip the end of the light on the engine block and the probe side to the same big nut on the starter, if it lights for both of these you have power and ground to engine and starter, next test is for the soloniod, this should be done with a neutral start switch but I do not think they make them anymore, so you will need a well insulated screwdriver IGNITION KEY OFF OR BETTER YET OUT OF IGNITION COMPLETLEY as the boat can start in gear doing this if ignition is on. you need to jump between the big bolt on your starter to one of the two little ones ( I just don't remember which until I go back to my boat and check for you) if you have power to the big bolt (light test) when you touch the little stud the starter will engage, after if it does turn over try the key again, if it does not turn over it is likley your starter, also if it does not turn over you can lightley tap your starter with a hammer this will sometimes allow the starter to work but this is really only a temp thing or if this happens out in the water a way to get you back home.

anyone remember which bolt to jump the solonoid too? If not I will get back to you when I check my trifly, or just pop down to Toronto and I will show you lol

[Commissionpoint]

How can I wire just one engine for a start up ?

Stbd. engine generally easier to do this with, but not always.

Locate the big ground coming off the block and the big positive that goes to the same engine. Clean the terminals well and check the connections to the engine for corrosion and decay. Replace them if you think they are suspect. Then, using a KNOWN GOOD starting battery, attach the positive first then the ground to the battery. If you get a big spark upon attaching the ground (negative) after the positive is attached you are drawing current on what should be, at that point, a quiet circuit. It would be an indication of an internal short somewhere. Starter would be a likely cause of such a thing, but I have seen also where a bad charging system can cause something similar to occur. (Voltage regulator craps out.)

Now, if you get it all connected and still haven't burned it to the waterline or electrocuted yourself standing in the bilge playing with wires, now would be the time to try starting it. Let us know what you find.

[marklo154]

Had a rain day from the job today so went full out on this issue. Happy to say at around 4 o clock I got the port side motor all fired up and running well. After tracing wires, cleaning contacts, removing and getting starter and solenoid rebuilt ( thanks to the local starter shop ), finding a short in the on board battery charger box, all this and only get zapped one time. The other motor is close to starting wants to go I will let those batteries charge for the night and try again with it tomorrow. With that motor I believe there are other issues as it was hard to start last year as well, you basically have to prime the hell out of it to get it to fire. I did pull a few plugs on that motor today and they had alot of gas on them. Feels good to at least get the one going, progress.