Volvo Penta AQ290A Engine Electrical

So far so good on the 81 Century 4000...except.


My dumb self decided to reverse the polarity on one of my two batteries completely by accident (negligence). Everything worked well until I was working on some new lighting, and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the trim motor. I switched both batteries to "both" only briefly before I realized what the heck was wrong.

Enter Sunday, out for a cruise.

I notice ZERO charge occurring on battery 1. Voltage is low, at around 11V, no normal increase that I see with increased throttle, not charging. Shut down engine, and switch to battery 2. Not charging. About an hour into our evening, I notice that activating the trim (280 PT) changes the note of the engine, at about 3500 rpm. Eventually the trim motor stops working, and I only hear the relays click. I broke some stuff guys.

I'll have to test, but I'm pretty sure the original S.E.V Marchal A14/35 is shot. I had the trim motor rebuilt last year, so I'll hook it up directly to 12V and see if it spins.

Any suggestions on a new alternator and trim motor sources would be super helpful. I'll have a local guy look at the alternator and see if it can be rebuilt. I'm sure something with a higher amp rating would be good as well.

UPDATE

For 126$ and some change, I upgraded my alternator to a Delco marine 95 amp unit, and had my prestolite trim motor rebuilt...again. I cleaned up all of the connections, also reset base timing to 8 deg btdc. This tank of a boat flies out of the hole now!! I took the old Holley off, and had the original Quadrajet rebuilt by Cliffs Performance. What a difference!

All electrical checks out, no clue why the old alternator stopped charging, it was a 35 amp, original. It would charge on a bench fine. I'll keep it in a tool box as a spare on the boat!