2006 Volvo 5.7 died won't start

Hi,
It all started out on Saturday. We took the boat out, a Cabrio 2006 Larson. The batteries were low, but I still used the 2 refridgerators. I went maybe about half a mile to an island and hung out for the day. When I was getting ready to go, the battery was too low to start the engine, click click. I had to get a jump. Started right up. I decided to let it idle to charge the batteries. It idled for 2 hours, then just died, like it was turned off. I tried starting, but it would not, it was turning over fine. The batteries had charged fully. I notice my temp guage and oil pressure guage was pegged. I figured, maybe over heated??? I waited anouther half hour and tried, but no luck. Packed everything up, tried again and it started. I was on my way. ABout half way to the dock, as I was watching my guages (temp was about 165 and Oil pressure at about 40 psi) it just died again, like it was shut off. I then was towed home. I could not start it at home either.

Electrical problem???

Thanks,

Garry

Lesson 1: be sure batteries are fully charged before leaving dock.
Lesson 2: Be sure charging system is working
Lesson 3: Have a backup plan in case 1 and 2 go wrong.
Lesson 4: Idling will not charge you batteries.

First thing to do is take those batteries to get load tested. You will have to do this at a shop where they can tell you if the batteries are still good or not.
If these are cheap car batteries from Wally Mart throw them away regardless of age and go spend the money for Deep Cycle AGM batteries from the boat store. $400 for batteries is nothing compared with being stranded and having your whole day go to sh!t.

Thing is, most boats are not set up to do what you are doing with your boat. They come with marginal charging systems and no backup if the primary goes down.

What you need to do is split your loads between engine and house. You should have one starting battery for the engine and at least two for the house loads if you are running reefers especially. You pretty much killed your batteries by running a lot of juice and then didn't charge them back up enough to do any good. The most rudimentary system incorporates a 1,2,BOTH,OFF switch. I hate these things but there are jillions of boats that have them so you might as well learn how to use it if your boat has this. Always run in BOTH and then when you shut down the engine switch to 2 to run your stereo and stuff. That leaves 1 charged and isolated from discharge while you party the day away. When it is time to get going switch to 1, get the engine started and then switch to BOTH to recharge both. Yes, pain in the butt, but it must be done.
Other option is to install something like a Yandina or Blue Seas Voltage Sensing Relay (VSR) which will do exactly the same thing as I just described above except automatically and requires no user input. You install it an bing! automatic charging and isolation.

Obviously you need to do some thinking, research and spending. Not unusual with boating activities.

No, not an electrical problem except that you ran out of it before you were done.

PS. Your boat probably has a 65 amp alternator. That's 65 amps at 5000 rpm. At idle, the alternator MIGHT be putting out something like 5 amps. By the time those 5 amps get to the battery they might be down to 3 or 4 amps due to resistance and heat loss. It would take overnight at idle to get your batteries back up to 14.4 volts, or longer.

Thanks, I do have a 1,2 Both Off switch, and I usually do exactly what you say about switching, but I did not do it this time. Both were very low. But after Idling, it did charge them up nicely. The boat cranked over fine. I know I will probably have to replce the Batteries, first on the list. They are deep cycle Interstate Batteries. When I was done for the day, the boat would not start at home, even though it was turning over fast. Batteries too low? Maybe. Any ideas?

o2batsea said:

The most rudimentary system incorporates a 1,2,BOTH,OFF switch. I hate these things but there are jillions of boats that have them so you might as well learn how to use it if your boat has this. Always run in BOTH and then when you shut down the engine switch to 2 to run your stereo and stuff. That leaves 1 charged and isolated from discharge while you party the day away.

Click to expand...

The only problem I see in doing that is that (unless you have installed battery isolators) you may drain both batteries instead of charging both of them should the charging system not work correctly. Personally, I only run one battery at the time and switch batteries every one or two trips (that will change once I install a battery isolator). Additionally, my Yamaha 9.9 kicker outboard has a 13 Amp alternator, which charges my boat's batteries (one at the time is my rule for now) while I am trolling and the main engine is shut down.

I would definitely have both batteries load tested, then ensure they are fully charged before starting a new trip. Also, keep in mind that single wire alternators and alternators with brushes in general will not charge with the engine at idle. On the other hand, brushless alternators may be more expensive, but they charge at any RPM. They are also more efficient and they last longer. Not sure which type you have installed, but this is only for general information.

Well, the boat does have an onboard 10 amp charger, I will hook the power cord up tonight and charge both overnight. I am hoping this is why it wont start. I am pretty sure there is another problem going on, since it does seem to crank over at a reasonable rate, which is faster than when I started out with.

That could be an indication of a battery problem (other than not being fully charged) or a bad ground between the engine block and the batteries; or just corrosion build-up in the battery terminals. I would check that all the connections are clean and tight, and also you may want to have the batteries load tested (especially if they are 4-5 years old). Alternatively, you can always borrow or rent a load tester and check them onboard.

Ok, I will go through all connections, making sure they are all clean and tight. I still think I will go ahead and replace the batteries. They are not hard to get to, so I will have them load tested.

Thanks.

The only problem I see in doing that is that (unless you have installed battery isolators) you may drain both batteries instead of charging both of them should the charging system not work correctly.

This is exactly the reason why I removed the 1,2,BOTH, OFF switch. I run a Yandina 150 between the 2 Deka Marine Master group 31s (house bank, in parallell ) and the single Marine Master group 24 (start bank) with the alternator output controlled with a Balmar ARS 5 charge controller. All my charging is done automatically with the assurance that my batteries will always be fully charged and ready no matter what. I have temp sensor on both the house bank and the alternator housing. Mando 65A alternator.

This is probably overkill for an afternoon beer cruise, so I don't know if I'd say you should go with a system like this...it depends on your needs.
You need to know how many amp-hours you are using when you are off the engine and draining the house bank. This will tell you how much reserve capacity you need.

Hi, new update to the whole situation. I have installed 2 new batteries, they were not deep cycle, they were just starting batteries. I have a deep cycle installed and a starting battery. Since I knew there wasa still issues, I took it in. I needed other work done too. They found a problem with the fuel pressure, changed the pump assy. ($900). had the Dist. cap and rotor replace and all filters. Next time I went out all went well! Then I went out yesterday. Ran great, started heading south on the intercoastal about 35mph, then it stopped, like someone turned the key off. The guages Oil pressure and temp pegged again. The motor turned over no problem but would not start. Same problem as before. Had to get towed back. Thankful for Boatus membership! Got it home, cleaned it up, still will not start. I havent checked much yet. The Tach guage does jump as it is turning over. The only other thing I noticed is my battery voltage guage is showing 11 volts, but on my meter in the cabein its shows 12 volts on both batteries. Aslo, I did fully charge the batteries before I went out.