Engine Won't Start

[Sarahdipity]

My 2003 Hunter 356 with the original 3GM30F Yanmar diesel with only 685 hours suddenly won’t start. It will turn over once, stop, and then the Inverter sounds an alarm and turns itself on. The wet batteries are 4 months old and well maintained (as is the engine). The DC panel reads 12 on battery strength and the other electronics, cabin lights, etc. work fine. It doesn’t grind or whirr like a bad starter. It really sounds like not enough battery juice. I know you guys have the answer.

ONE MORE ITEM - the boat is mostly parked dockside plugged into AC power.

 

[kloudie1]

If the batteries are in fact good and charged, you have a bad connection somewhere between the battery and starter.. I would start at the batt terminals and go toward the starter and check every connection for tightness and cleanliness.
When it tries to turn over, the heat from the bad connection will make the connection worse and the power can't get through to the starter. A bad wire can do the same thing but that is pretty rare.

 

[JoeWhite]

Check for clean connections battery lugs to the engine and battery itself. Monitor the battery voltage while you are cranking. If is less that 12 V - then you have battery problem. Also check the fluid of the battery. Refill with distilled water.

 

[Sarahdipity]

Check for clean connections battery lugs to the engine and battery itself. Monitor the battery voltage while you are cranking. If is less that 12 V - then you have battery problem. Also check the fluid of the battery. Refill with distilled water.

Both good advice. Going to check all of this tomorrow. FYI - the battery itself has clean tight connections and proper distilled water level.

 

[Don Lucas]

The DC panel reads 12 on battery strength

Well if the batteries are really "12" they are pretty much discharged and after the voltage drop I wouldn't really expect the engine to start. If the engine is only turning over once, it is the batteries.

 

[Sarahdipity]

Well if the batteries are really "12" they are pretty much discharged and after the voltage drop I wouldn't really expect the engine to start. If the engine is only turning over once, it is the batteries.

That's what the panel reads. But like I said - batteries are practically new, well maintained. Maybe the battery charger isn't working properly. Came up kind of sudden.

 

[Sarahdipity]

That's what the panel reads. But like I said - batteries are practically new, well maintained. Maybe the battery charger isn't working properly. Came up kind of sudden.

Is there a way to disconnect battery power from some of these connections?

 

[Don Lucas]

That's what the panel reads. But like I said - batteries are practically new, well maintained. Maybe the battery charger isn't working properly. Came up kind of sudden.

Doesn't matter!! if the batteries are "12" they are 12 and your engine isn't going to start.

Step 1 would be to verify thatt your batteries really are charged.

 

[Sarahdipity]

Doesn't matter!! if the batteries are "12" they are 12 and your engine isn't going to start.

Step 1 would be to verify thatt your batteries really are charged.

Great advice. It occurs to me that batteries may not be charging from AC charger. When the boat was being used more frequently engine charging was just enough to power limited non-occupied use and start engine. The batteries were new and that helped. Now that the boat has sat idle for a longer period the batteries ran down.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

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That's what the panel reads. But like I said - batteries are practically new, well maintained. Maybe the battery charger isn't working properly. Came up kind of sudden.

Do you have a respectable digital volt meter which you can connect to the battery terminals ? The panel volt meters are not noted for accuracy or detail. After a night on the battery charger, you should see about 13.4V across the terminals. If that's the case, then a loose connection as previously mentioned is most likely.

 

[Sarahdipity]

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Do you have a respectable digital volt meter which you can connect to the battery terminals ? The panel volt meters are not noted for accuracy or detail. After a night on the battery charger, you should see about 13.4V across the terminals. If that's the case, then a loose connection as previously mentioned is most likely.

Do I need to disconnect battery power before checking connections? And if so - what's the best way to do that?

 

[Charlie98117]

Do I need to disconnect battery power before checking connections? And if so - what's the best way to do that?

Not if you are just pulling on wire connections looking for ones that move. If you start taking fittings apart to clean them like at the starter solenoid it is always a good idea pull the positive terminal off the battery.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Do I need to disconnect battery power before checking connections? And if so - what's the best way to do that?

As long as your DC panel is shut off and you have no load on the batteries, you will get an accurate reading even with the cables attached. After a night on the charger, you should be down to a float charge which will be around 13.4V.

Lots of interesting info here on the site regarding how batteries charge and discharge.

 

[Rob2435]

I had a similar problem and it turned out the the 12awg wire to the start button, down to the starter just couldn't handle the load. I replaced it with a 10awg wire and she starts every time. If you want to check this before tearing the boat apart, just pull the engine fans off the key switch and push the start button, if she starts every time, the problem is the wire can't handle the load. It drove me nuts for years, I followed all the suggestions and still I had problems...

 

[Sarahdipity]

Determined that the batteries are not being charged by the AC charger - a ProTech4 1230. They have dropped from 12 to 6 in just the last few days. I believe this is beyond my present capability and will call a marine electrical specialist. Thank you all for the advice - otherwise this would have taken me forever to figure out.

 

[Don Lucas]

How did you determine that the charger isn't working? Are both the house and start battery dead?

I'm going base this off my 410 as your 356 wiring is probably pretty much the same - the start battery should never die! Even if you never connect to a battery charger the small amount of use when starting the engine should quickly be make up for by the alternator.

If the start battery is dead and the house batteries aren't the problem is you start battery has died, replace it. Now on my boat the house bank will supply the start circuit m yours may or may not do this.

PS - what type of batteries do you have? Wen you say your batteries are 6V are they 6V volt golf cart batteries? If so did you only measure across 1 battery?

 

[Sailor_Jeff]

Long ago, i worked for a man who had this same problem. He purchased new batteries, then ran all new wire to the starter. Then, then, various other things were tried. Then, he put a new starter on it, and fixed the problem. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes even new starters go bad.

Please post back when you get the problem fixed and let us know what it was.

 

[Sarahdipity]

Outcome. Batteries were dead. Professional marine electrician said ProTech Charger not working. Called ProNautic who offered to replace with brand new unit for 1/2 price. After countless calls I could not get them to confirm shipment or tracking number. As I was dead in the water I used the same professional who installed a Mastervolt the same day. Batteries now back up to charge. Thank you all again. Next time you're in Vero I owe you a beer.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

When we put new batteries in our H356 the Protech charger would over heat and shut down. It was replaced with a 50A Sterling charger.

Hunter has two fuses for the charger outputs under the settee. They are hard to see. If you have any further charger issues in the future they would be a first thing to check.

I put additional batteries under aft berth in our boat.

We keep our boat in Port Salerno, not far from you.

Bob

 

[Sarahdipity]

When we put new batteries in our H356 the Protech charger would over heat and shut down. It was replaced with a 50A Sterling charger.

Hunter has two fuses for the charger outputs under the settee. They are hard to see. If you have any further charger issues in the future they would be a first thing to check.

I put additional batteries under aft berth in our boat.

We keep our boat in Port Salerno, not far from you.

Bob

We purchased our boat in March. It is our first boat and have never sailed before. Its been interesting. I must admit to having envy at your cruising record. I'm heartened to hear the 356 has that kind of capability.

The ProTech did have a fuse which was running red hot. The new charger is fused internally and working really well.

We are planning to make our first longish trip to Stuart Loggerhead Marina. I'll let you know if we make it.