2005 Honda BF150 reversed polarity

[MikeTriton]

I'm sick. I screwed up. Just bought this boat, was re-arranging the batteries cause they were a mess and accidentally reversed polarity for a few seconds. At fist I was hopeful - everything in the boat worked, including the power trim. But after I set up the hose and cranked it over a few times she died. I found a burnt fuse, I replaced it. Now I get nothing but a faint buzzing sound - from the motor. Anybody else had this misfortune??? Any ideas? Ive double checked the battery is fine and the 90 amp fuse has been changed. The small fuses also seem fine

 

[jgmo]

Hi,
Sorry this happened and yes, it doesn't sound good.
BUT...

The fact everything worked for a bit is a good sign indeed.

Before assuming the worst, I would be checking all of the large electrical connections and, really, any others that are accessible.

If you have an A-B or 1-2-Both switch, try bypassing that because those things often give trouble anyway.

Reversing the cables will often cause electrical arcing and that could make an already poor connection even worse.

So find the attachment points on the outboard for the main cables and, with the battery completely disconnected, remove them and clean all contact points such as eyelets, stud and bolt threads and the pads the terminals sit on. Small wire brushes are good for doing this.

Finally, brush the battery cable ends and battery posts before reconnecting.

Even if this doesn't get a fix, it does begin the process of elimination for continuing to troubleshoot.

I hope you can get it sorted.

 

[jgmo]

I should have also said that you might also want to assess the battery itself. You can probably take it to any big box auto parts place and get it load tested.
Because, if it was marginal to begin with, reversing the polarity briefly could have pushed it over the edge.
Just another thing to eliminate as a possible cause before getting into the more difficult troubleshooting or, worse, throwing expensive parts at the problem guessing.

Good luck.

 

[MikeTriton]

Hi,
Sorry this happened and yes, it doesn't sound good.
BUT...

The fact everything worked for a bit is a good sign indeed.

Before assuming the worst, I would be checking all of the large electrical connections and, really, any others that are accessible.

If you have an A-B or 1-2-Both switch, try bypassing that because those things often give trouble anyway.

Reversing the cables will often cause electrical arcing and that could make an already poor connection even worse.

So find the attachment points on the outboard for the main cables and, with the battery completely disconnected, remove them and clean all contact points such as eyelets, stud and bolt threads and the pads the terminals sit on. Small wire brushes are good for doing this.

Finally, brush the battery cable ends and battery posts before reconnecting.

Even if this doesn't get a fix, it does begin the process of elimination for continuing to troubleshoot.

I hope you can get it sorted.

Thank you for the suggestions - I appreciate it. I don't have a A,B switch as of yet, and I'll be sure all connections are clean.