1997 Mercury 75hp battery issue

[Spoodge6 0]

G'day People,

Went out 2 weeks ago on the Nepean and had no issues with the motor. Got back home and went to flush it out and it wouldn't turn over just a clicking noise. Jump started the motor via my car and it started 1st go. Took both batteries out (spare wasn't working as well) and charged them up. Still same issue of just the clicking or no noise at all. Other powered items on the boat work. Went out and bought a new battery (it was due) and still wouldn't turn over. Jump started again and no issues.

Any suggestions of the problem would be much appreciated.

[dunc333 102]

check all connections ,if i were you first I would remove and clean battery cable ends at battery then remove positive (red) and negitive (black) from your motor ,both should be connecting at starter motor ,im guessing yor neg (black) cable connection needs cleaning and this will be where your problem is,I could be wrong but do these things and then if no good we can troubleshoot some more cheers dunc333

[Geoff 1]

It's interesting that it was OK when jump starting. Was this done in the convential method , ie the boat battery was connected & the jump leads connected to the cable terminals or something else.

Did you try disconnecting the terminals from the boat battery & then connecting them direct to the jump leads?. What was the result.

If that started the motor then the problem is with the battery.

A multimeter is handy in this type of situation as it can indicate the either the voltage or circuit condition at selected points.

Basic units are available for less than $20

Geoff

Geoff

[Spoodge6 0]

Thanks for advice. Found the issue is some faulty wiring connected to the stereo (who would have thought?) as soon as I disconnected it the engine started first go.

[Spoodge6 0]

Went out again today and everything was fine until the wiring went haywire. Can't even explain what happened. Had to paddle 100m to the jetty. It could have been a lot worst.

[Geoff 1]

I think it's back to square one. The wire for the stereo would be on a seperate circuit & would suggest it was purley coinsidental that the motor started.

There is a loose or corroded connection some where in the power cables from the battery to the motor or in the ignition system.

It's basically down to a process of checking & elimination.

Geoff

[port hacking addiction 0]

Hey mate i have the same problem as u its happen to me before and it was my leads i had to buy new 1s that was a year ago i havent checked what the problem is this time im hopin its same problem

[Nolongeramember 56]

G'day People,

Went out 2 weeks ago on the Nepean and had no issues with the motor. Got back home and went to flush it out and it wouldn't turn over just a clicking noise. Jump started the motor via my car and it started 1st go. Took both batteries out (spare wasn't working as well) and charged them up. Still same issue of just the clicking or no noise at all. Other powered items on the boat work. Went out and bought a new battery (it was due) and still wouldn't turn over. Jump started again and no issues.

Any suggestions of the problem would be much appreciated.

Your problem has to be located from where ever you connected the jump leads to and the battery. Probably bad terminal connections. Make sure they have good, clean metal contact and everything is tight. Other than that, you may have a dud battery. Connect it to something else and see if it starts that to check its power.

[Nolongeramember 56]

Could also be one of the cables from the battery to the engine have bad current flow.

[sorro 0]

It sounds like you have a bad connection in the terminals connection at the battery..if it is still clicking and you dont have a multimeter, you can try and start it a few times while it clicks and put your hand on the terminal to see if either is getting hot..Hot one will be the faulty one . Otherwise it would be a very easy test by an Auto Electrician to actually tell you what is wrong and is much cheaper then buying new batteries that you dont need.

Kevin

[perrydj1 0]

Might be a dodgy grounding, although this will usually result in no noise (nothing)when you turn the key, maybe you have ground but not a good one. If your cranking battery is okay, as you say, you are providing a better ground when you connect the jumper cables. Check that the area where your black cable is screwed to something metal on the boat