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My newly purchased boat nearly caught fire today!

M

mr_carman007

New member
Hello,

I just purchased a new boat (new to me) it is a 2000 Monterey Edge 180 with a 4.3 liter Volvo Penta, its a little bit of a fixer upper. Well anyway, I got it running and wanted to test it on the lake so I took it out today. While out there 2 things happened that most definitely need to be addressed, I am thinking they are completely unrelated but I want to tell you about them both anyway... they are as follows:

1. as I was taking the boat to the ramp I smelled something burning, I quickly looked at all gauges (nothing overheating), I then looked toward the engine compartment - there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. I removed the engine cover and heard popping but didn't see any flames. (I unleashed a fire extinguisher just to be safe though). Once the smoke subsided I realized that the electrical box was very hot and seemed to be the source of the popping noise... any thoughts on what could have happened?

2. The tach showed that the motor was running at 5k rpm, however I couldn't get the boat over approximately 15 mph (wouldn't even plane out). I'm thinking this may be more of a mechanical issue with the outdrive but I wanted to disclose it in case I am missing something and somehow they're both related.

​
Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Open the electrical box... inspect. likely find burned connections that probably started from loose or corroded connections.

Re: only 15mph... two possibilities.
1) slipping hub. REmove prop retaining nut (cone), using a waterpoof marker, draw a line on the prop from the shaft itself outwards past the small gap between the hub and prop itself. Replace cone correctly. Run boat. return to dock/ramp. remove cone and see if the line you drew is still a straight line. If not. bring prop to a qualified rebuilder to repair or to find prop diameter and pitch, and buy a new prop.

2) Vastly wrong prop. compare prop diameter and pitch with props recommended for boats your size on the Volvo prop guide.

a
 
sandkicker said:
Open the electrical box... inspect. likely find burned connections that probably started from loose or corroded connections.

Re: only 15mph... two possibilities.
1) slipping hub. REmove prop retaining nut (cone), using a waterpoof marker, draw a line on the prop from the shaft itself outwards past the small gap between the hub and prop itself. Replace cone correctly. Run boat. return to dock/ramp. remove cone and see if the line you drew is still a straight line. If not. bring prop to a qualified rebuilder to repair or to find prop diameter and pitch, and buy a new prop.

2) Vastly wrong prop. compare prop diameter and pitch with props recommended for boats your size on the Volvo prop guide.

a
Click to expand...

UPDATE:

checked electrical... All was fine so I pulled the exhaust manifolds and risers and the elbows were clogged, cleaned those up very nicely and I think they're ready to go. For the speed issue, I believe (waiting for prop shop to get back to me) I have a slightly spun hub.

So now that everything is almost back together and nearly ready for lake test #2 I need to address the starter issue where it keeps cranking when the key is turned to accessory power and won't stop until the neg terminal on the battery is pulled. Once the neg terminal is pulled you can put it right back on the battery and the starter is quite and does not engage until the key is put back to accessory mode, at that point it will crank (even if you turn the key off and completely remove it for then ignition) until the neg lead is removed from the battery.


I ordered a new starter from Amazon, who claimed it to be a marine starter... Looks like an automobile starter to me so I haven't installed it yet, however I did remove my original starter and bench tested it. It bench tested without issue so now I'm thinking maybe ignition switch??? As a side bar I would like to put this piece of info out there, lead from solenoid to starter looks like it got extremely hot as it is black. I'm not sure if the exhaust manifold got hot enough to make that happen or the starter was stuck engaged for long enough to do that.


Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
kimcrwbr1 said:
Is it possible the starter was running the whole time on your test run? That could explain the start wire getting real hot. It would cause the battery to drain rather quickly?
Click to expand...


I was thinking this is what could have happened as well however I thought there would have been a terrible grinding noise associated with it which I didn't hear... but it would completely make sense because the heat was coming from that side of the engine and the starter wires are a little charred (only starter wires - nothing else). I did notice a very slight notching on the ends of the starter bendix gear as well.

Do you think this is a starter issue or a ignition switch issue?
 
mr_carman007 said:
I was thinking this is what could have happened as well however I thought there would have been a terrible grinding noise associated with it which I didn't hear... but it would completely make sense because the heat was coming from that side of the engine and the starter wires are a little charred (only starter wires - nothing else). I did notice a very slight notching on the ends of the starter bendix gear as well.

Do you think this is a starter issue or a ignition switch issue?
Click to expand...


UPDATE: After I pulled the starter and bench tested it, I eliminated the starter being any part of the problem after some soul searching. From there I thought it may be a bad relay so I opened up the relays and visually inspected for any kind of charring etc... nothing. I began tracing the wire further, low an behold I found some wires that had melted together and upon further inspection one of them happened to be the ignition wire! I cut out the bad sections and replaced with new wire, reinstalled the starter, wrapped the wires up in a professional manner, hooked the battery up, crossed my fingers, and tested - PROBLEM SOLVED!!! Looks like I will be testing the boat this weekend!

Thanks for the help
 
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