215 ec

[steve19]

Another queston for you guys. Went for a ride today and noticed the outdrive wouldn't trim up. Then noticed the voltmeter was pegged at 16, about that time an alarm went off. I immediately shut her down and checked everyting I could thimk of. Including trimming up the out drive (wihich now worked), nothing wrapped. I brought her back in slowly putiing her up on plane, alarm sounded and then went off. Trim worked, voltmeter still at 16.
By the way the boat is a '99 but the motor was replaced last year. Mec cruiser 350 mag mpi, less than 100 hours.
Any ideas??
Thanks,
Steve

 

[springer3]

Get a voltmeter and verify the the voltage reading. It sounds like the voltage regulator in the alternator is blown. You will boil the battery and damage the electronics in the boat if you expose them excessive voltage. At speed, 13.8 volts is optimal, and in no case should exceed 14.5. A fully-charged battery should read 12.5 volts at no load, and can drop to 10.2 while the starter is cranking.

Power, which equates to heat generation, increases as the square of the voltage. Sixteen volts in a 12-volt system is way too much, and will shorten the life of the battery, bulbs, and electronics.

 

[steve19]

Had a mechanic check out the engine. Turns out the gauge went bad. He hooked up a computer and everyting checks out, new gauge everyting fine. The engine alarm turned out to be a switch that was telling the engine it was out of gear he replaced the switch ($24) and she runs great again.:smt038