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battery stud blew off...........WTF?


MALIBU/DUKE 87

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so it was raining this morning, bummed i wasnt gonna be able to work on the boat. Then about 1pm the wind blew the strom out and it turned into a nice day.

so off came the cover and out came the tools :yahoo:

i got some things in order, hooked up the battery, and cranked her over.....she burped/farted then nothing.

i thought that was odd since i had her running so well, so the check list began. my first stop the battery.........and to my suprise, the battery cable was laying on the ground.

upon further inspection i noticed that the terminal was still attached to the cable, and that the terminal must have seperated(blew off).

my boat does have a perko switch and i know all my connections were clean since i had gone through them all.

should i be using the larger terminal instead of the smaller one?

thoughts?

thanks

2012-03-28161633.jpg

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that looks like it is melted or got real hot somehow, kinda like a high consumption user, maybe starter is not disengaging ? ground out, etc... if it were mine I would run a quick check to make sure there wasn't an open ground before re connecting, and/or keep an eye on that cable to make sure it is not heating up.

Edited by wallyg
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Battery cable was extremely hot

When you say open ground, do you mean at the starter? or entire electrical system?

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take your multimeter and check resistance between your positive cable and a ground... looks like a short to ground.. the melting is caused by high heat caused by high current ...could happen in the starter... if you just had everything apart I would double check all your connections make sure all are correct.

Edited by G-Mack
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it could be anywhere I would take an ohm meter and make sure there no major continuity between the hot terminal and ground , make sure all the accessories are off(even a lite will show ) be sure batt is disconnected though. as a place to start. I have heated up a cable with a lot of cranking trying to get a uncooperative motor to start also, not sure if that may have been a factor in your case?

Edited by wallyg
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take your multimeter and check resistance between your positive cable and a ground... looks like a short to ground.. the melting is caused by high heat caused by high current ...could happen in the starter... if you just had everything apart I would double check all your connections make sure all are correct.

ok, i did try to turn the engine over for a few mins, could that have over heated the cable?

im going out to the boat now to take a pic of a very interesting wire i found tape back in the harness, its right at the starting slave unit next to the 50 amp breaker on the front of the motor

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it could be anywhere I would take an ohm meter and make sure there no major continuity between the hot terminal and ground , make sure all the accessories are off(even a lite will show ) and batt is disconnected though as a place to start. I have heated up a cable with a lot of cranking trying to get a uncooperative motor to start also, not sure if that may have been a factor in your case?

yes i had the same thought as well, take a look at this wire tho

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i have ran the motor for an hour and half already, including a quick lake test. havent noticed anything out of the ordinary that i thought could be related

2012-03-28181751.jpg

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continuous cranking will defiantly get it warm, wish I could remember what that wire was though, my boat is still in it's winter cocoon so I cant help there!

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is it possible postive battery cable gauge not large enough? if so, what gauge is spec?

i plan on having a complete stero system in the boat, any after market cables perform better?

thanks

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continuous cranking will defiantly get it warm, wish I could remember what that wire was though, my boat is still in it's winter cocoon so I cant help there!

ok thought so

according to my merc crusier "number 9" book, it calls for that black/wht stripe to be a ground the runs to the battery. When i look at the battery side, the ground wire is not the same as the wire shown at the top. its has a thicker coating, no white stripe and a larger terminal than what i would assume is stock or spec

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is it possible postive battery cable gauge not large enough? if so, what gauge is spec?

i plan on having a complete stero system in the boat, any after market cables perform better?

thanks

bump.....any thoughts?

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I have a newer (2001) Mercruiser in my other boat. The wire that you are holding is the ground wire for your slave solenoid coil. The other end of the wire probably connects to a ground bus. I'm pretty sure that the yellow wire with the red stripe connects to your ignition switch and sends power to the slave solenoid coil, pulling the contacts in (if the ground is connected) that connect the battery to the starter. As far as your blown off terminal, I'd have to go with cracked terminal base. If the base was cracked when you cranked the engine, heat would build up in the part that wasn't cracked. I'd buy a new battery, start your boat and have a great summer. But just to be safe I'd keep an eye on your battery cable to make sure that there isn't another problem.

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This happened to a buddy of mine a few years ago. Lots of cranking before it happened, first start of the year and I was like "Dude, go easy on that starter". Pretty sure his cable was not tight enough on the negative post, creating the heat. He only finger tightened the wing nuts when hooking it up. I always crank mine with a pliers.

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I have a newer (2001) Mercruiser in my other boat. The wire that you are holding is the ground wire for your slave solenoid coil. The other end of the wire probably connects to a ground bus. I'm pretty sure that the yellow wire with the red stripe connects to your ignition switch and sends power to the slave solenoid coil, pulling the contacts in (if the ground is connected) that connect the battery to the starter. As far as your blown off terminal, I'd have to go with cracked terminal base. If the base was cracked when you cranked the engine, heat would build up in the part that wasn't cracked. I'd buy a new battery, start your boat and have a great summer. But just to be safe I'd keep an eye on your battery cable to make sure that there isn't another problem.

thanks for the thoughts

i have her back up and running now.

the odd part of that wire is it was taped back in the harness.......i have not connected it yet and i have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. my buddy brought up the fact that my bilge pump inst working....maybe because the

previous owner dissconected the ground to it?

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This happened to a buddy of mine a few years ago. Lots of cranking before it happened, first start of the year and I was like "Dude, go easy on that starter". Pretty sure his cable was not tight enough on the negative post, creating the heat. He only finger tightened the wing nuts when hooking it up. I always crank mine with a pliers.

bingo!!!

after i got a new battery, she fired right up and ran like a top.

now when she runs, cable is cool to the touch..........guess i cranked it a bit to long ....... :Doh::oops: .

live and learn......only get one chance to be young and dumb hahahah

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