Power Issues with 02 XR6

[David g]

I have a 02 Mercury XR6 (0T469102) on a Ranger 185 that has performed well. Recently when hooking up the boat for a fishing trip as I was moving the boat by hand out of my shop I pushed the rocker for the trim and I got a clicking sound. My initial thought was a dead battery. The boat had not been ran in a couple of months but I have plugged in the onboard charger to keep them all charged. I connected the charger and the trolling batteries lights lit up but the cranking battery light did not, no green or red. Put a multimeter on the battery and got 13 volts. tightened the nuts on the battery connections and no change. Tested to see if the key would engage the starter and just a clicking sound. I thought it might be a ground but not sure where the ground wire is on the outboard. Hoping someone knows where I should look first. It may be the battery and I believe it is a shade over two years old. All input is appreciated.
David

[lpugh]

Was the 13volts with charger running or off
What is the battery voltage while attempting to crank
Also check the voltage from engine ground to the battery cable where it is attached to the motor (power point) both static and while attempting to crank
report back

[xcoach]

When my 03 did that, I replaced the solenoid and that fixed it. I knew my battery was good though.

[EuropeanAM]

He's got two different circuits giving problems (start AND trim), so it's probably not a solenoid.

Have that battery LOAD TESTED, provide the actual CCA test result.

Verify clean connections, ENGINE CABLES FIRST, remaining lugs Largest to Smallest, and finish with a Stainless Locknut (no wing nuts).

Then see where you're at...

[David g]

Was the 13volts with charger running or off
What is the battery voltage while attempting to crank
Also check the voltage from engine ground to the battery cable where it is attached to the motor (power point) both static and while attempting to crank
report back

Excellent diagnosis but since I don't have a helper, it's pretty difficult to hold the multimeter on the battery while I crank or trim but I could do with some jumpers. The voltage reading I took was with the charger disconnected. I took the battery out of the boat and tomorrow I am going to take it to O'Reillys to have a load test performed. Still wondering why the battery charger light wouldn't illuminate when plugged in and this to me may point to a bad battery. I did not test the ground on the outboard as I couldn't see where the battery ground terminal is located. I did notice two battery cables on the starboard side that appeared to be ran to the solenoid. I am getting partial power to everything as the starter buzzes and the trim buzzes. I will report back on the load test of the battery. I have experienced high voltage that fails the load test before. That will eliminate that variable. Thank you Don and Leon.

[DrewFlu33]

Excellent diagnosis but since I don't have a helper, it's pretty difficult to hold the multimeter on the battery while I crank or trim but I could do with some jumpers. The voltage reading I took was with the charger disconnected. I took the battery out of the boat and tomorrow I am going to take it to O'Reillys to have a load test performed. Still wondering why the battery charger light wouldn't illuminate when plugged in and this to me may point to a bad battery. I did not test the ground on the outboard as I couldn't see where the battery ground terminal is located. I did notice two battery cables on the starboard side that appeared to be ran to the solenoid. I am getting partial power to everything as the starter buzzes and the trim buzzes. I will report back on the load test of the battery. I have experienced high voltage that fails the load test before. That will eliminate that variable. Thank you Don and Leon.

You may have a bank out on your charger...this is almost exactly what I experienced when I had that happen. Try switching leads around on the charger to see if a different charging bank charges it.

[David g]

Latest update is that I had the battery load tested yesterday which was a Group 24 1000 CCA unit over two years old. Test results were 9.8 volts under load. I bought another flooded Group 27 to replace which had 800 CCA. Also had to order another tray for the battery since it is longer. I hooked up the battery to boat connections on the rear deck as I am waiting on the tray. Every thing worked as it should. Plugged in the onboard charger to top off. After some time the charger light turned green, happy happy. Fifteen minutes later the Red light goes back on. I removed the charger wires from the battery and tested the output of the charger, zilch, nothing, brushed the terminals pos and neg and no sparks. Looks like one bank of the charger is inoperative. I don't know if the charger caused the battery to fail but I did charge the old battery with another charger before I had it load tested an it was reading 13 volts. Anyway, new battery works fine and looks like if I don't want to use another charger for the cranking battery, I will need another onboard charger. Lesson learned is to ensure that my charger is actually charging the battery. I have had the light green then light red on this charger for a while on the cranking bank. I assume that when the charger is running that I should have power with it disconnected to the battery. Would appreciate a suggestion for an OBC to replace for my flooded batteries for my XR6. I thank everyone who helped me with this issue.
David G

[EuropeanAM]

Your group 24 was likely not 1000 CCA (can't say I've ever seen one with that high a CCA rating). Maybe MCA or CA.

Check the output fuses on that bank of your charger. Most chargers have fuses in the output lead sets, if blown or corroded, the charger will not output properly on that bank.

Depending on what charger you have, it may not be as simple as checking voltage on a lead set (and certainly should NOT be "brushing leads together").

[David g]

Your group 24 was likely not 1000 CCA (can't say I've ever seen one with that high a CCA rating). Maybe MCA or CA.

Check the output fuses on that bank of your charger. Most chargers have fuses in the output lead sets, if blown or corroded, the charger will not output properly on that bank.



Depending on what charger you have, it may not be as simple as checking voltage on a lead set (and certainly should NOT be "brushing leads together").

Don, I am sure you are spot on regarding my CCA acronym but the Number 1000 Amps was on the old battery but I can't remember exactly what was printed and since I have traded it for the new one it is gone. Was an EverStart Marine Cranking 1000 A. I just looked at my new Group 27 and it states 1000 A but the sales guy said it had 800 CCA. I don't know if he was right or not but I am thinking it should work fine.

The Charger is "Charging Systems International" Three Bank Pro Charge Pro Series. This is the original installed charger from Ranger. I did not remove the charger but I looked in the charger manual included when the boat was purchased and there are no references to any fuses I saw shown. I also checked the cables and no inline fuses on any of them but there are temperature sensors as outlined in the manual on each bank. This charger has for some time alternated between red and green after longer charging periods on the cranking battery bank. Charger does light on cranking bank when connected and powered but doesn't seem to me at least to be charging. I know brushing terminals is probably not the wisest thing and thank you. If you know anything about this charger I appreciate input. I can also post in electrical.
Again, thank you Don for your always spot on no frills logic and vast knowledge sharing.
David G

[EuropeanAM]

That's the same company that now makes the Dual Pro chargers. Many of those (and I suspect yours may be the same) channel charging current to the lowest or weakest battery first. This is where I was headed when I said that it "may not be as simple as checking voltage on a lead set"... I've seen a number of cases where a customer had one bad or weak trolling battery, and consequently other batteries were not getting charged properly or completely. Understand this MAY be the case (I am not saying that it IS the case).

One pretty archaic and simple method to confirm charging is to put some 12V device on the cranking battery and draw it's voltage down to 11.8 - 12.1 VDC. Then put a voltmeter direct to the cranking battery, plug in the charger, and monitor the voltage over a few hours to see what happens (both with voltage and with lights on the charger).

There's little doubt you had a battery problem. Probably the only real remaining question is whether the charger is properly performing it's functions.