Guest hibachi Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 Went fishing yesterday. Everything was going great. My wife and kids were with me. I had been fishing all day, and both of my trolling motor batteries were dead. Plus it looked like it was about to rain... time to go home. But when I went to crank the boat, it wouldn't crank. > It would roll-over, but it wouldn't fire. My first instinct was that my cranking battery didn't have enough juice. I looked and sure enough, one of my kids had flipped the bilge pump on while I was fishing. So I waved another boat over. It was a bunch of high school wake boarders in a $50k boat. They came over and we tried for about 30 minutes to jump off my battery from their battery with jumper cables. I could see that the battery was charging on my volt meter, but it still wouldn't crank. It was like it was flooded. I tried choking it, which usually makes it at least try to fire, but not this time. I don't know if we just didn't give the battery enough time to charge or what. Could it be my starter? my solenoid? I'm not much of a mechanic when it comes to these types of things. I know my cranking battery has died in the past, but I was able to jump it off with one of my trolling batteries. But not this time. Any thoughts? By the way, I was cussing those wake boarders all day for flying by me while I was trying to fish. But these guys were very gracious, and they towed me about a mile back to the boat ramp after we didn't have any success jumping off my battery. I don't have anything bad to say about wake boarders any more. Quote
jdw174 Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 I'm no mechanic but there could be any number of things that wouldn't let your engine fire. The first thing I have to ask is: Did one of your kids accidentally pull your kill switch loose :-? . And this is just an opinion, but if you fished a day and your TM batteries were "dead", I suggest that you put a tester on your batteries and see if you have a bad cell or two. If not, then I'd check out your charger. One days fishing would certainly pull down your batteries somewhat but I wouldn't expect them to go dead. Quote
Super User cart7t Posted July 2, 2007 Super User Posted July 2, 2007 Anytime my OB suddenly wouldn't fire I checked the kill switch first. It often had been accidently yanked out. Quote
surfer Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 I have been caught by the kill switch problem at least twice. One time it took me a week to figure it out. Now I make a more conscious effort to always start with the simplest solution first. Check the kill switch if you have one. Check that you have gas making it to the engine next. If your back home and have the tools I would check for spark third. While checking for spark you should notice weather the battery is low or not. Charge or replace battery if needed. About this time is when I start praying for the battery to have a problem. Once you make it past this point just to diagnose the problem can be more expensive than a new battery. After the battery is charged or new, if the starter is turning your motor over at the same pace it normally dose then the starter and solenoid are fine. You should be able to hear this if it sounds different. The starters I have had always went from normal to nothing when they went bad. Good Luck Quote
dickenscpa Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 By the way, I was cussing those wake boarders all day for flying by me while I was trying to fish. But these guys were very gracious, and they towed me about a mile back to the boat ramp after we didn't have any success jumping off my battery. I don't have anything bad to say about wake boarders any more. My Dad told me a story once about being a young teenage jerk in the late 50's. He was in the back of a truck his Dad was driving and maybe a brother or two. He leaned out a bit to yell something derogatory at some young guys walking. Thank God he's changed since then. His hat blew off and landed right in front of those guys. His Dad stopped the truck and told him to go get his hat. He said he was very nervous walking up to those guys, but they picked up his hat, brushed it off and handed it to him. He said it changed his heart but he didn't apologize. He's almost 61 now and he said it still stings his heart that he didn't apologize and now he can't. Quote
Guest hibachi Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 Wow! I'm a f-ing idiot and I'm embarrassed to say it, but you guys hit the nail on the head. Guess my son flipped the kill switch. I didn't think my boat would do anything if the kill switch was flipped. Crap! How embarrassing :-[ Quote
Cajun1977 Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 dont be embarrased it happens to everyone who has one on their boat Quote
jdw174 Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 The first time it happened to me I was about 8 miles down the Lake Erie shore from the launch. It was the day before I was to leave on a fishing vacation to Tennessee . There wasn't another boat to be seen, and this was pre-cell phone days. I just happened to pull it about halfway loose when I stood up to take off my life jacket and never noticed it. I finally had the old lightbulb come on and pushed it back into place and away I went......a WHOLE lot wiser Quote
surfer Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 Congrats. Thats the cheapest fix it could have been. ;D Quote
dickenscpa Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 Wow! I'm a f-ing idiot and I'm embarrassed to say it, but you guys hit the nail on the head. Guess my son flipped the kill switch. I didn't think my boat would do anything if the kill switch was flipped. Crap! How embarrassing :-[ Like everyone else says, don't be embarrassed. My first launch of my boat, with my wife and son in it as it was going down the ramp, I forgot my plug. No big deal, everybody does it once or twice. I rigged a deal where I'd never forget anymore. Wrong! I go to a new ramp for the first time June 23rd and it's crowded, one parking spot left, people coming in and out and I'm in a hurry. I rigged a deal on my transom saver so I'd never forget to put the plug in. Doesn't work real well when you rush and back the boat in with the plug dangling on the transom saver that still holding your motor up. Be a while before I go back there!LOL! Just this past Sunday after Church I wanted to get some fishing in before this BIG storm blew in. The previous Thursday I replaced my gas tank, hoses, bulb, etc. Disposed of the old gas and was gonna start fresh. Drove all the way out to my favorite ramp and the boat won't start. Fiddle with it for about 10-15 minutes and then it hit me. I never replaced that old gas I disposed of! I got a brand new tank so fresh I could safely drink water out of it. By the time I got out of the water, drove back to town, got gas and got back I wound up fishing for about 45 minutes before the lightening show started. To make matters worse on my 4th cast I caught a LM bass just under 6 lbs. May not be big to some of you, but that was a monster for me personally. I found a mess of big fish but the weather was TOO rough and I had to go home. Started not to post that second part but when any of you feel kinda dumb about anything pertaining to a boat, just think about my dumb move and it should set your mind at ease. Quote
Cajun1977 Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 catching a six pounder makes matters worse :-? Quote
dickenscpa Posted July 3, 2007 Posted July 3, 2007 catching a six pounder makes matters worse :-? What made it worse to me is I stumbled onto a mess of fish and landed a good size one, only to have to run for cover. If not for my brain freeze, I could have spent some time in the area and maybe caught a few of them. Here lately I've either caught a few dinks or got absolutely blanked. We've had a pretty bad drought here, so we needed that rain, but the fishing has been bad. So, to me, to catch that big one and then have to leave was depressing. :'( Quote
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