strange voltage variance and non start of 150 speedster

[Geffu]

I recently purchased a 150 Speedster with the Supercharged 215 motor .... I installed a solar powered battery 'trickle' charger along with a tracking device recently and during the install I felt resistance pulling the wires through the hull....nothing dramatic but a slight tug that made me think i might have got tangled up with something in the right side of the hull. The wires are totally separate from all existing wiring and run direct to the battery by passing the isolator. Maximum charge is around 2 amps at most just to keep the battery 'topped up'
I didn't attempt to start the boat until yesterday.
When I attempted to fire it up, it gave the impression of a flat battery .... just a dull click from the starter... nothing else. Whether or not the DESS made any of its normal noises I cannot remember ......

I checked the battery with a voltmeter and it read 12.8 V, checked the fuses in the instrument cluster and all good with same voltage of 12.8 V across all of them. Checked engine compartment fuses and strangely they read around 7 volts only ......

I checked voltage from the battery to the starter solenoid and was amazed to see that the feed side to the solenoid read 12.8 V while the starter motor side read 7.0 volts without the solenoid being activated so it is a bit weird for sure.

Followed on to the neutral safety switch..... found that it had an open circuit so assumed I must have caught it while pulling wires through.. Decided to by pass the switch to see if it would start but still nothing.

This morning contacted a couple of Sea Doo dealers here in Perth, Australia but they seemed reluctant to look at it due to its age. One of them even said he didn't have diagnostics for the older boats .... mmmmm

Anyone have any ideas on what may be the issue ...... is there a reasonably priced diagnostic tool I can get that would help

Hopefully someone might have an idea as to where to look ..... thanks in advance

 

[MacSeaDoo]

The first place to start is the grounds. There are 3 of them located on the front of the engine. They are hard to see but if you use a phone or a mirror you can see them there.

Anytime you have a battery measuring 12.8V and downstream feeds measuring less than that, you have resistance somewhere. Start at the grounds because they are often the culprit. If they are corroded, you will need to clean them up and make sure they are tight.

If they are good, check the ground at each fuse box location.

 

[Geffu]

The first place to start is the grounds. There are 3 of them located on the front of the engine. They are hard to see but if you use a phone or a mirror you can see them there.

Anytime you have a battery measuring 12.8V and downstream feeds measuring less than that, you have resistance somewhere. Start at the grounds because they are often the culprit. If they are corroded, you will need to clean them up and make sure they are tight.

If they are good, check the ground at each fuse box location.

Thanks for the response..... I'll check it out and hopefully fix the problem.....

 

[Geffu]

The first place to start is the grounds. There are 3 of them located on the front of the engine. They are hard to see but if you use a phone or a mirror you can see them there.

Anytime you have a battery measuring 12.8V and downstream feeds measuring less than that, you have resistance somewhere. Start at the grounds because they are often the culprit. If they are corroded, you will need to clean them up and make sure they are tight.

If they are good, check the ground at each fuse box location.

Thank you very much for the advice ..... spot on diagnosis ..... a simple clean up of the earth points and all good.... I seem to have totally overlooked that fibre glass doesn't have earth points like cars ..... thanks again

 

[MacSeaDoo]

Glad you have it sorted out.