Hello all. Thank you in advance for any and all help you can give me, and if that help is no more than pointing me to the right place (because this is a well-known and resolved problem), then I'm all ears.
I have a 2006 Bentley 24-foot pontoon with a Mercury 90HP 4-stroke outboard engine. In May of this year, after months of inactivity, my wife and I took the boat out. It started right up and sounded just fine. While pushing out of the dock, the low voltage (4 short beeps every 2 minutes) alarm began sounding. It continued to do so at least 3 or 4 more times. At the time, I did not know what the alarm meant, and I got as far as the mouth of my cove before the intelligent side of my brain kicked in and I headed back to the dock. By then, the engine was running very roughly and in fact it quit just prior to getting into the slip.
While the engine was still running, I did note that the onboard voltmeter read 14 volts +/- .2. When I did a static test of the battery it showed 12.5 volts. I did not, nor have I since then, experienced a slow, draggy starter when turning the key, so I don't believe that the battery is the problem.
Last weekend (about 3 weeks after the first incident), I did some minor troubleshooting (looked at the fusible link between the battery and alternator, saw no signs of problems), and in the process of doing so, started the engine up. It ran fine and gave no indications of trouble. I added about 10 gallons of fresh gas (my thinking - maybe a bad gas problem with a very weird problem annunciation?) and took it out for a spin. It ran great, at a variety of RPMs and under a variety of conditions, for about 20 minutes, with 14 +/- volts showing on the voltmeter. Then the low voltage alarm began beeping and the motor began running roughly. Still showed 14 +/- volts on the voltmeter. Changing the throttle input/RPM did not seem to make any difference to the way it was running, and it finally quit. I waited a few seconds, turned it over and it ran fine. I then proceeded directly back to the dock, and the engine ran fine the whole way back.
So, there's my story. Now, my confidence in the boat is somewhat shot, and I have family coming in tomorrow who I know are going to want to go play on the lake.
Any ideas on what I should look at first? Is it possible that bad gas, or water in the gas, could cause symptons like I'm describing?
codwx (it's pronounced cod-wicks)
I have a 2006 Bentley 24-foot pontoon with a Mercury 90HP 4-stroke outboard engine. In May of this year, after months of inactivity, my wife and I took the boat out. It started right up and sounded just fine. While pushing out of the dock, the low voltage (4 short beeps every 2 minutes) alarm began sounding. It continued to do so at least 3 or 4 more times. At the time, I did not know what the alarm meant, and I got as far as the mouth of my cove before the intelligent side of my brain kicked in and I headed back to the dock. By then, the engine was running very roughly and in fact it quit just prior to getting into the slip.
While the engine was still running, I did note that the onboard voltmeter read 14 volts +/- .2. When I did a static test of the battery it showed 12.5 volts. I did not, nor have I since then, experienced a slow, draggy starter when turning the key, so I don't believe that the battery is the problem.
Last weekend (about 3 weeks after the first incident), I did some minor troubleshooting (looked at the fusible link between the battery and alternator, saw no signs of problems), and in the process of doing so, started the engine up. It ran fine and gave no indications of trouble. I added about 10 gallons of fresh gas (my thinking - maybe a bad gas problem with a very weird problem annunciation?) and took it out for a spin. It ran great, at a variety of RPMs and under a variety of conditions, for about 20 minutes, with 14 +/- volts showing on the voltmeter. Then the low voltage alarm began beeping and the motor began running roughly. Still showed 14 +/- volts on the voltmeter. Changing the throttle input/RPM did not seem to make any difference to the way it was running, and it finally quit. I waited a few seconds, turned it over and it ran fine. I then proceeded directly back to the dock, and the engine ran fine the whole way back.
So, there's my story. Now, my confidence in the boat is somewhat shot, and I have family coming in tomorrow who I know are going to want to go play on the lake.
Any ideas on what I should look at first? Is it possible that bad gas, or water in the gas, could cause symptons like I'm describing?
codwx (it's pronounced cod-wicks)
