cruisers454
New member
Hello, So my friend and I took his boat out on Lake erie today and had a strange issue that I hope that you cant help me with. First, Ill start with Im brand new here and I live in Michigan. My Friend has a 26ft Cruisers inc with a 454 magnum mercruiser and an Alpha 1 drive.
So last year, The last ride of the year as we came back to the launch the alternator quit working on us. All year charging seemed very low. One of his batterys was bad so we that maybe that was the issue. So we got the boat to his place winterized it and didnt work on it until this spring. So he went and bought a new 4 wire Prestolite style alt. As I almost get the bad starter out i notice that the Exciter(purple) wire came loose and disconnected(was a little black at the end). So we decided to hook the old alternator back up and see if was accually bad of not. we discovered that I wasnt so we kept the old alt on and took the new one back..........
Today we got the boat out for the first time this year. Started and run perfect the entire from the launch and out the channel. So we get out on to the lake about a mile and we are losing charge again. Stopped the boat, checked all connections to both battery and alternator..... nothing is loose or disconnected(and by the way, the alternator was very hot). Only thing we see is that the engine is wet. As Im trying to figure this out I notice that there is a very very very small pin hole leak coming from the front of the waterpump and hit the back of the pulley. It wasnt bad at all, but we discover that when the boat is running there is a constint mist in the engine bay and everything is getting wet(which answered why the engine was wet earlier) Barely get the boat restarted and try to get back to launch asap. we both noticed that at 11.9 volts we didnt loose anymore charge until we used the trim or drive hydraulics. When using extra power wed loose it but when not using any extra the voltage held steady. So we get the boat home, charge the batterys and start up the boat to check the voltage at the battery and at the alternator. Before we even test the alternator the voltage gauge is going back up and everything is working again............
So my question is if the alternator gets to wet, will is stop working and work again when is dries out. Or could maybe from the exciter wire being loose last year maybe the voltage regulator was damaged and get to hot to work and shorts? Idk any info would be very helpful
So last year, The last ride of the year as we came back to the launch the alternator quit working on us. All year charging seemed very low. One of his batterys was bad so we that maybe that was the issue. So we got the boat to his place winterized it and didnt work on it until this spring. So he went and bought a new 4 wire Prestolite style alt. As I almost get the bad starter out i notice that the Exciter(purple) wire came loose and disconnected(was a little black at the end). So we decided to hook the old alternator back up and see if was accually bad of not. we discovered that I wasnt so we kept the old alt on and took the new one back..........
Today we got the boat out for the first time this year. Started and run perfect the entire from the launch and out the channel. So we get out on to the lake about a mile and we are losing charge again. Stopped the boat, checked all connections to both battery and alternator..... nothing is loose or disconnected(and by the way, the alternator was very hot). Only thing we see is that the engine is wet. As Im trying to figure this out I notice that there is a very very very small pin hole leak coming from the front of the waterpump and hit the back of the pulley. It wasnt bad at all, but we discover that when the boat is running there is a constint mist in the engine bay and everything is getting wet(which answered why the engine was wet earlier) Barely get the boat restarted and try to get back to launch asap. we both noticed that at 11.9 volts we didnt loose anymore charge until we used the trim or drive hydraulics. When using extra power wed loose it but when not using any extra the voltage held steady. So we get the boat home, charge the batterys and start up the boat to check the voltage at the battery and at the alternator. Before we even test the alternator the voltage gauge is going back up and everything is working again............
So my question is if the alternator gets to wet, will is stop working and work again when is dries out. Or could maybe from the exciter wire being loose last year maybe the voltage regulator was damaged and get to hot to work and shorts? Idk any info would be very helpful