Newbi here, but I have a 2000 Optimax 135 on the same year Edgewater 185CC. It failed 2 years ago due to a ground wire breaking between the alternator and engine block (took quite some unnecessary parts and time to find the broken wire). When the alternator was out, the voltmeter was at approx. 10 VDC and well-below the normal reading. After repairing, the "normal" 13 VDC was showing while running. Anyhow, it's mostly been sitting for 2 years, but I've been trying to update the motor with newer parts as I had time and money. I changed the worn-out alt./compressor belt, tension pulley, tension pulley spring, spark plugs, thermostats, water pump, and foot gear oil. I drained the fuel tank and cleaned the fuel filter too. Engine has approx. 650 Hrs.
I finally took her out yesterday getting ready for a trip to the coast and she ran perfectly from idle to 3500 RPM, on a rough day on Lake Hartwell, for about 1 hour. As I was coming back and close to the landing, I wanted to open her up to WOT in calm water and to be sure all was working ok. I got to 5,000 RPM and she ran fine as I trimmed-up to increase the speed. As I got close to land and throttled down quickly, she died like the ignition was turned off. I tried to re-start, but the starter sounded "funny" and the motor would not crank initially. After a couple of tries, the motor re-started, but the overtemp alarm turned on, even though a normal water stream from the "pisser" started flowing. (I assume this over-temp could have been caused by the sudden engine stop at high RPMs, starving the motor of cooling water?)
Anyhow, I re-started after a few minutes sitting and no high temp alarm, so I proceeded to head back to the ramp at low speed when the motor died again. Again the starter sounded weak so I switched over to only the deep cycle battery and re-started, heading again to the ramp. I increased the RPMs to 1,500 and she died again. I waited a couple of minutes, restarted, and drove idle speed back to the landing, which thankfully, was very close. When I got home, I connected to my hose and ran for 10 minutes at idle speed with no problems. I increased the speed to 1,200 RPMs for a minute and still no issues - water flow looked good too. Removed the batteries and Interstate starting battery was at 65% and deep cycle at 80% when reconnected on my charger (both 100% when I left the house). So maybe I have a bad alternator or other problem charging somewhere? Would an alternator cause such an engine failure at 5K RPM? I got no prior warning or alarms before it died. Analog voltmeter on console showing approx. 13 volts after incident. Also, I noticed my motor rpms will drop when idling and trimming up/down...is this normal?
Any help or advice is certainly appreciated!
Kenny