Awful noise

[wakechick3]

We were having a great time Saturday until the boat just quit.

I went to try and start her up and the key just kept turning all the way around and around. I turned the key to the left and it caught but the engine would just not crank. I called our service guy at CTWS

and he said "bring it in we can change that out and get you back on the water". So we sat for a little while hoping that it was a quirk, got it to start once (turning the key left or counter clockwise) but it freaked me out and I turned the key back. ughhh, me. So we sat again, no luck, waved the next boat (and only one we saw)down and got a tow.

While being towed we decided to try and turn it again and she started, so we drove back to the ramp with the boat working fine as usual (going about 21). While I am positioning the boat to let my driver off, I put her in reverse and there it was a horrible grinding noise, so I immediatly put her back in drive, then I try neutral and get the noise again. So I am getting the noise in neutral and reverse but not forward?

At the shop, Kenny get's the starter deal switched out pretty quick and she is starting every time, then he waits a little bit and no start. He then gets it to start about every 10th time. With the day ending he says there is a short to the ECM and he cant find it. Everything on the boat was loose and each time he tightens one thing up another error message appears.

He also says my second battery is completely drained- which I don't understand because it is plugged into a trickle charger when in the garage. My question here is for the 2 batteries to get charged should the Perko switch be on 1, 2, or 1+2??

Kenny has yet to replicate the grinding noise, anyone else ever had such an oddity? He did put on a new prop, and nothing is wrong underneath, so I don't see how the prop could cause the noise if only in reverse and neutral??

bummed, we had a lot of boating planned for the weekend and had just gotten our sunscreen dry.

[Ndawg12]

Perko should be set to "all" to charge both batteries.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Bummer. Hope they can get it worked out.

Regarding the battery charge question, I think it depends on what kind of charger you have setup. I have a Guest 2 bank on-board charger setup on each battery. So I turn the Perko Off & plug in the charger & they are charged independently. But I believe there are other systems that might require the Perko be different.

Are you positive the battery is actually a good one? 4 yr old boat, it's possible the battery flown south.

Any chance the grinding was just the starter turning over & the engine was already running? Not something you want to do very often, but not the end of the world either.

The key turning sounds like the switch itself was just lose.

Edited August 2, 2010 by Bill_AirJunky

[UWSkier]

Yep, I bet the grinding was your starter. It shouldn't engage with the boat in gear, but I bet with the ignition switch being all messed up and bouncing around from the ride back, the key was making contact with the "start" circuit of the switched. When you pulled the boat to neutral, the starter fired.

My guess.

[wakechick3]

Bummer. Hope they can get it worked out.

Regarding the battery charge question, I think it depends on what kind of charger you have setup. I have a Guest 2 bank on-board charger setup on each battery. So I turn the Perko Off & plug in the charger & they are charged independently. But I believe there are other systems that might require the Perko be different.

Are you positive the battery is actually a good one? 4 yr old boat, it's possible the battery flown south.

Any chance the grinding was just the starter turning over & the engine was already running? Not something you want to do very often, but not the end of the world either.

The key turning sounds like the switch itself was just lose.

The switch itself was tight, the key was spinning in the housing.

The battery is only a little more than a year old, our stereo guy installed it along with the trickle charger & stereo stuff. I usually keep the perko on 1+2 in the garage.

that's interesting about the noise, i will pass it on.

Thanks guys!

[martinarcher]

Yep, I bet the grinding was your starter. It shouldn't engage with the boat in gear, but I bet with the ignition switch being all messed up and bouncing around from the ride back, the key was making contact with the "start" circuit of the switched. When you pulled the boat to neutral, the starter fired.

My guess.

I agree. I bet the switch got stuck in the "start" position and once the neutral safety switch engaged in neutral the starter decided to mate with a spinning flywheel. Nasty sounds, but not the end of the world if it was brief.

[sangleeisg]

We were having a great time Saturday until the boat just quit.

I went to try and start her up and the key just kept turning all the way around and around. I turned the key to the left and it caught but the engine would just not crank. I called our service guy at CTWS

and he said "bring it in we can change that out and get you back on the water". So we sat for a little while hoping that it was a quirk, got it to start once (turning the key left or counter clockwise) but it freaked me out and I turned the key back. ughhh, me. So we sat again, no luck, waved the next boat (and only one we saw)down and got a tow.

While being towed we decided to try and turn it again and she started, so we drove back to the ramp with the boat working fine as usual (going about 21). While I am positioning the boat to let my driver off, I put her in reverse and there it was a horrible grinding noise, so I immediatly put her back in drive, then I try neutral and get the noise again. So I am getting the noise in neutral and reverse but not forward?

At the shop, Kenny get's the starter deal switched out pretty quick and she is starting every time, then he waits a little bit and no start. He then gets it to start about every 10th time. With the day ending he says there is a short to the ECM and he cant find it. Everything on the boat was loose and each time he tightens one thing up another error message appears.

He also says my second battery is completely drained- which I don't understand because it is plugged into a trickle charger when in the garage. My question here is for the 2 batteries to get charged should the Perko switch be on 1, 2, or 1+2??

Kenny has yet to replicate the grinding noise, anyone else ever had such an oddity? He did put on a new prop, and nothing is wrong underneath, so I don't see how the prop could cause the noise if only in reverse and neutral??

bummed, we had a lot of boating planned for the weekend and had just gotten our sunscreen dry.

[sangleeisg]

I just had that exact experience this weekend. My ignition barrel began spinning when starting the boat, thought nothing of it until I put boat in neutral heading to reverse and it made this horrible grinding noise. Anyhow, it turns out that the key was stuck in the start position and was not returning back. To get by, I simply hold the ignition behind the dash with my left hand and apply just enough pressure on the key to start. the grinding sound never happened again. Now the question is how do I keep that ignition barrel from spinning.

Edited August 23, 2010 by sangleeisg

[Lance B. Johnson]

Yep, I bet the grinding was your starter. It shouldn't engage with the boat in gear, but I bet with the ignition switch being all messed up and bouncing around from the ride back, the key was making contact with the "start" circuit of the switched. When you pulled the boat to neutral, the starter fired.

My guess.

What he said