225 SHO Just Quit and Left Me Stranded

[Zetabait]

2013 SHO with 300 hours. First run at close to WOT for about 15 minutes to first spot. Several moves after that at idle. Move to next spot on plane and the motor just dies. No alarms, no knocking sounds, didn’t hit anything. Almost as if I pulled the kill switch. When I tried to restart the motor I just got the clicking sound, and the trim and tilt was very sluggish. Battery is brand new, group31. Checked all the obvious stuff, battery connections were solid, no corrosion, kill switch in place. I figure this has to be an electrical issue? If it’s a fuse, I’m not sure where to start looking. Also, checked the battery a few week ago with a volt meter, while the motor was running and it read 14.4 volts.

First time a Yamaha has ever left me stranded.
Is there anything I can check to troubleshoot this myself before taking it to a dealer?

Thanks for any input!

[vmax]

Try this before taking your boat to the dealer.

250 SHO Blown Fuse

I had something happen recently that I thought I would share to possible prevent an unneeded trip to the marine dealer. Fishing a T, made a 20 min run, fished for 2-1/2 hrs, got ready to move and engine would not start. Engine would turned over fine, fuel line bulb was firm, removed gas caps to check vapor lock...nothing helped. Trolled over to friends house and called service manager at marine dealer. He said it sounded like I had a blown fuse. Removed cowling and sure enough, fuse protecting ECM, etc (30 amp) was blown (see page 85 of owners manual). Fuse panel cover contains spare fuses and fuse puller. After replacing blown fuse, engine fired up instantly and ran fine rest of day. Don't know why it happened, but service manager said it was not uncommon. Been running this SHO for 4 years and first time it ever happened. Was extremely hot day..don't know if that played a role or not. Have spoken to several of my SHO owner friends and none of them knew about this fuse panel.

[Zetabait]

Thanks vmax. I'll look around and see what fuses I can find.

[txbass1]

Try this before taking your boat to the dealer.

250 SHO Blown Fuse

I had something happen recently that I thought I would share to possible prevent an unneeded trip to the marine dealer. Fishing a T, made a 20 min run, fished for 2-1/2 hrs, got ready to move and engine would not start. Engine would turned over fine, fuel line bulb was firm, removed gas caps to check vapor lock...nothing helped. Trolled over to friends house and called service manager at marine dealer. He said it sounded like I had a blown fuse. Removed cowling and sure enough, fuse protecting ECM, etc (30 amp) was blown (see page 85 of owners manual). Fuse panel cover contains spare fuses and fuse puller. After replacing blown fuse, engine fired up instantly and ran fine rest of day. Don't know why it happened, but service manager said it was not uncommon. Been running this SHO for 4 years and first time it ever happened. Was extremely hot day..don't know if that played a role or not. Have spoken to several of my SHO owner friends and none of them knew about this fuse panel.

+1 Same thing happened to me with 180 hours first time. Luckily this board saved me a trip to the mechanic. Hasn't happened since. Sucks as I trolled for about two hours back to the ramp and I could have fixed it on the water had I known.

[Zetabait]

All fuses checked out fine. 3 weeks before the mechanic can look at it. I’ll be sure to post the diagnosis to maybe help others. Given my luck with motor repairs, it will be in the thousands. Love spending 23K on something unreliable

[Nova Kaw 650]

The battery is dead or you have a bad connection.
What is the battery voltage now, and have you tried to charge it?
Why did you need a new battery?

[Rich Z]

If this sho is on an older boat you mostlikely have a bad battery connections or the cables are old with a lot of resistance.

[Zetabait]

Rich, you were right. There was a small amount of corrosion on the connection to the terminal. Cleaned it and back in business. Here’s the pride swallowing part. My wife told me to listen to what I was being told, disconnect, clean, and reconnect everything.

My my boat was “my girl” now it’s my wife.

[Nova Kaw 650]

The battery is dead or you have a bad connection.
What is the battery voltage now, and have you tried to charge it?
Why did you need a new battery?

Hey; I was right too, lol!
Happy to hear it was an easy fix; next time listen to your wife, lol.

[D-wayne]

Interesting that a little corrosion of the terminal connections can cause so many issues.

[Rich Z]

Rich, you were right. There was a small amount of corrosion on the connection to the terminal. Cleaned it and back in business. Here’s the pride swallowing part. My wife told me to listen to what I was being told, disconnect, clean, and reconnect everything.

My my boat was “my girl” now it’s my wife.

Noticed on mine that this motor has a current draw when parked. Not completey sure if its the motor or something else so I installed a battery cut off switch and haven't had anymore issues with battery going dead.

[ifishinxs]

So it really wasn’t a SHO issue at all. Damn battery connections!

[bgibson]

Noticed on mine that this motor has a current draw when parked. Not completey sure if its the motor or something else so I installed a battery cut off switch and haven't had anymore issues with battery going dead.

Exactly what I did, battery cut off switch is a must!

[sask]

Had a very similar situation - 2016 sho 250...ran great, stopped for a shore lunch, went to start back up and it would crank but not start....thought we were stranded..son checked the fuses and the 30 amp Ignition Coil Fuse was burnt...put in the extra and ran fine the rest of the day and all day yesterday....wondering if this is common?

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

This thread has got me thinking I need a battery cut off switch on my FX21 - 250 SHO. It seems like I can fully charge the new Sam's club 31agm battery and in a couple of weeks with it just sitting it needs a long charge before I go fishing. Figure there must be some kind of drain on the starting battery. I always make sure the power button is off so as far as I know that only leaves the auto bilge switch. I know the bilge pump isn't running (no noise) but something is drawing the battery down, maybe the bilge float switch but its hard for me to believe it would draw that much current. Anyway I want to install a re-set type circuit breaker on my starting battery. I put a 60 amp arm type breaker on my trolling motor circuit (Fortrex 101 36v). It cost about $15.00 and isn't large. It has a little lever that trips if the breaker trips or if you want to break the circuit you just move the lever down. I want to put one of these on my starting battery circuit. Does anyone know how many amps the breaker needs to be. I have no idea how many amps that circuit sees when the big motor is cranking. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Tx Champ]

It's not just SHO, my 250 HPDI (VZ250TLR for yam911 ) will suck a battery down in 2-3 days too. On top of that I have Power Poles that draw current until they go to sleep mode. I think a battery cut-off should be std equipment on today's boats. I have my OB and Poles on one.

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

This thread has got me thinking I need a battery cut off switch on my FX21 - 250 SHO. It seems like I can fully charge the new Sam's club 31agm battery and in a couple of weeks with it just sitting it needs a long charge before I go fishing. Figure there must be some kind of drain on the starting battery. I always make sure the power button is off so as far as I know that only leaves the auto bilge switch. I know the bilge pump isn't running (no noise) but something is drawing the battery down, maybe the bilge float switch but its hard for me to believe it would draw that much current. Anyway I want to install a re-set type circuit breaker on my starting battery. I put a 60 amp arm type breaker on my trolling motor circuit (Fortrex 101 36v). It cost about $15.00 and isn't large. It has a little lever that trips if the breaker trips or if you want to break the circuit you just move the lever down. I want to put one of these on my starting battery circuit. Does anyone know how many amps the breaker needs to be. I have no idea how many amps that circuit sees when the big motor is cranking. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Update: I spoke with a friend who is pretty good with outboards and he says the computer on a SHO is what is drawing the power down. He also said that he didn't think it would be a good idea to break the positive current side to the motor because the computers are sensitive to a sudden rush of current. He said to break the negative side. Any comments from anyone with experience. My FX is an older model. Are the newer boats with SHO motors equipped with a master battery on-off switch and if so does the switch break the positive side or negative side? I've got a on-off switch ordered and the wiring diagram shows wiring it to the positive cable, any help with making sure I don't fry the computer in my motor is appreciated!

[Texas Larry]

Adding a switch to the positve cable is no different than removing the cable. I cannot see where that would harm anything as long as the switch doesn't develop any voltage drop across it. There is no spike when you connect the battery, so it shouldn't harm anything. I just keep my battery charger plugged in 24/7 when the boat is in storage. Once the batteries are charged after use, the chargers go into maintenance mode and keep them fully charged. I am of the opinion that letting the batteries drain over time and recharging is hard on them.

[yam911]

It's not just SHO, my 250 HPDI (VZ250TLR for yam911 ) will suck a battery down in 2-3 days too. On top of that I have Power Poles that draw current until they go to sleep mode. I think a battery cut-off should be std equipment on today's boats. I have my OB and Poles on one.

You left out the production date!

[tracer1]

I have 3 cut off switches. Trolling motor, power poles, & main switch. All on a panel in my battery compartment. As said in an earlier post, connecting & reconnecting the battery is hard on it. I was told by a leading on - board charger company that charging the battery, then unplugging it, then days later charging it again is not good for it. Each time this happens sulfate from the cells fall off and accumulates at the bottom of this battery. Over time the accumulation can cause a dead cell. Hope I explained this right. Was told this a few years back so bear with me if I missed something. With the NEW chargers with the maintenance mode, they can be left on 24/7. I have always left mine plugged in, haven t burned down my house, garage or boat in 20+ years. I use AGMs now so don't think this would be a problem either.