Honda 20 won't start.

Sorry this may be a long post but I want to include all of the facts.

I have a 20 HP honda electric start on an 11' walker bay.

I have had some issues with the battery being to weak to start the motor but it always pull starts on the second pull. Last week I had the same issue but about 15 minutes into running the buzzer started going off. The oil light was lit (green) and the temperature light was not lit. The water coming from the motor was warm at best, almost cool. I was running at idle or slightly above. The interesting thing to me was that it would buzz with the key on before I tried to start the motor. I was under the impression that the buzzer shouldn't sound below 1400 rpm. Well I continued to run it as the buzzer was varrying in intensity but the motor would rope start and the lights looked good.

A couple of times I would increase the speed and the motor would die almost instantly. I have navigation lights on the dingy and I discovered they were on so I turned them off. As soon as I did the buzzing stopped. (Low battery?) but not 2 minutes later the motor died and would not start. I had to be towed in.

Yesterday I had a friend help me and we found that we had 10.37 volts on the battery cold, 9.9 with the key on and 2 if you tried to crank it. I bought a new battery and then tried again. The motor cranks very fast now but will not fire. I pulled a plug and it had no spark. While we were sitting there looking at it we forgot to turn the key off and I could hear a sizzling sound. When we went looking for the sound we noticed smoke coming from the either the black box on the front of the engine or the wiring connected to it. I didn't leave the key on long enough to see for sure. If you turn the key on you can hear the sizzling sound almost immediately.

Just don't know where to go from here. Could running the engine with a dead battery burn out the CDI?

Rick

I am not sure anyone can answer your question. It is possible that the thing that is sizzling is the regulator/rectifier. See #2 http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Outboard%20Engine/2006/BFP20D6%20LRTA%20/WIRE%20HARNESS%20%2B%20REGULATOR%20%2B%20STARTER%20CABLE%20%282%29/parts.html

Some of the inputs/outputs of the reg/rect also connect to the cdi unit. So who knows for sure?

The best thing to do is do a close examination of the area of the sizzle and look for any melted insulation.

The circuit diagram for your motor is in the back of your owner's manual....that may help.

Mike

That sounds pretty awful. Other than what Mike has already said, I would add that If you do end up buying new charge and CDI parts, I would urge you to check the boat's electrical wiring, especially the running lights, for shorts to ground before hooking it all back up.

It sounds as if that crappy battery or a dead short to ground may have cooked out the regulator and you certainly don't need that happening again to your replacements.

Good luck.

makes me wonder. I noticed that the lights don't work. I have never run it at night so I don't know how long that has been. I will be looking at the lights first then I will look to the CDI. Biggest issue is the boat is mounted on the roof behind my flybridge not easy to access but Now I have some odeas. I was hoping to hear this was a common issue. nope not so lucky... Thanks for the info.

My guess is that the battery was where it all got started but....better safe than sorry. Checking your fuse panel for properly sized fuses and then powering up the circuits directly from a battery would tell you if all is well there.

Here's something on lead acid storage batteries:

There are 6 individual cells in a "12 volt" automotive battery. Each of those cells produces 2.1 volts. Add 'em all up and you get 12.6 volts for a healthy, fully charged battery. Since nothing in our world is perfect, we tend to approximate and say 12.3 to 12.6 volts is likely ok.

A battery that exhibits a deficiency right at 2.1 volts can be suspected of "missing a cell". Since your battery read 10.3 volts at rest, it may have had an open cell. This could have caused the charging system to produce high current trying to replenish the battery.

In addition, a battery that reads 12 volts on a meter can be considered to be over 25% discharged. A battery that is that far "gone" should not be trusted to work in your car or auto charge system. It should be charged on a bench charger and then load tested before being put back in service to prevent "overloading" your alternator.

I know all this doesn't help you now but the knowledge may save you some headache in the future.