boat wont start

[fishinkrop]

OK I have a 2002 tracker with a 50h tracker moter on it. it will not start unless I put the cracking battory on the charger then it starts good for the frist time but when Im on the lake and go to start it it has a hard it. my boat should be charging the batory well it is running right?

so do I need a new batory? and if so can I get a 2nd cranking batory that I can swich on and off when the 1st wont start the boat so that there is always a good charge? Or do most people have just one cracking batory? and if I did add the 2nd one could I charge that with the boat to like the 1st should be doing? if any one works on boats and needs a side job I will pay for there help!

I have had this boat for to weeks and have been stuck 2

times this weekend!!

please help done wont to have to take it to a shop and get chrge $1000 to fix it!

thanks Jeff krop

[DTro]

***edit I just reread your post so I will add this.

If you have an alternator/stator on your motor is should charge will running. So either your battery is shot or your stator is shot. What you need to do is get a voltage meter and hook up to the battery, get the reading, should be close to 12v,(the next part you might have to do on the water) take a reading while under power or high idle and the voltage should be something like 14v. I hooked up the polarity wrong one time on a boat and it fried the stator, ths is how I tested it. I think I would get a new battery either way.***

You can buy batteries that are both deep cycle (for trolling motor) and cranking combined. From what I gather though you are better off having two separate batteries. If anything you will have a backup if one takes a dump. Is the issue that it takes a long time of cranking to start? If so you might have other issues.

If you can deal with the extra weight, I would go with a deep cycle for the trolling motor/accessories and a cranking for starting.

Now I'm not sure if you can hook them both up to the outboard for charging while running, but at the very least your cranking battery will charge, that is if you have an alternator/stator.

[fishinkrop]

Ok I have 2 batteries in my boat now a cracking and a deep so what I wont to do is a 1 more cracking so there will be 3. and when I put the cracking battery on the charger and get it full then try to start it it works rite away 1 try but on the water it wont start or it starts with like 15 trys.

thanks Jeff Krop

[DTro]

It sounds like a bad battery. If it pops off right away, you should be able to do that many times before the battery dies (especially a cranking battery). When it doesn't start is is still cranking fully or does it have a hard time cranking?

By the way I think 3 batteries in your boat would be overkill.

[fishinkrop]

when it wont start it cracks the same. it dont sound like there is not enough power but I just took the charger off and tryed to start it. and it went rite away 1 crank but when I was on the water it wont start. so it must be the battery???

[DTro]

ok, if it cranks the same but won't start you have another issue. Just from the symptoms my guess would be that it's fuel related. When it won't start, check the bulb on the hose line to see if it's hard, you may be losing pressure out on the lake. That's the first thing I would check. It really could be a number of things. If it's cranking the same, but won't start, I would say it's not the battery.

[Surface Tension]

Its hard to follow you here.

Your saying your boat won't start when on the water but starts right up at home when it comes off the charger. If you have to continually charge your battery its shot. Theres no sense in having a battery on board that won't crank and with your setup you should only have/need one cranking battery. I wouldn't rely on the outboard to charge anything.

Now maybe I read wrong and your battery has plenty of juice but the outboard won't start or is hard to start on the water. A couple things could be happening as to why its hard starting. I guess I'd have to ask if your outboard is carbed or EFI. I've seen cases where a fuel injected engine will not start if the battery isn't up to snuff.

I'll assume on the trip to the lake you have your outboard tilted up. What happens when you do that is your carb can dump its gas and flood the engine. If you have a remote tank with pressure in it it'll continue to run gas to

the carb and make things worse. Solution is to disconnect the fuel line after a day on the water. You could go one step further and run the outboard till the carb is dry.

Or your not pumping the bulb up and choking the outboard when starting.

[magnumthunder]

Get a new battery. Use the old for the core charge. Dont haul around dead batteries they take up to much space and are not worth the hassle.