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I recently purchased this boat, and was out lobster fishing this past weekend. We were doing great until the motor died and left us stranded in the we hours of the morning. We tried to start the motor but it sounded as if the battery did not have enough juice. Long story short, we made it home and I charged the battery to tried and start the motor. When I turn the key the only thing I get is a clicking noise from the starter relay assembly. I also get this same noise went pressing the trim/tilt control buttons. Has anyone had this problem and can tell me what the problem might be? Thank You
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It sounds like you are not getting enough amps from the battery at the motor end of the main battery cables. This can be caused by several different things, all of which are easy to diagnose.
The first (and most obvious) thing to test is the battery. You can test the terminal voltage with a multi-meter (about 12.6V for a charged battery that has been standing a while), however, this does not tell you much about the internal condition of the battery and its ability to supply a heavy current (amps) when starting the engine etc. The best way to determine the health of the battery is to fully recharge it and then go to a battery supplier and ask them to perform a "Heavy Discharge Test". This is a pass/fail test.
Assuming that your battery is OK, the next most likely culprit is a bad (high resistance) connection, usually in a heavy cable such as the main battery cables. Check that the connections (where the cables enter the battery terminal connectors) are sound. Pay particular attention to cables where the metal strands appear to be black or covered in corrosion. If the metal cable (rather than the plastic/rubber insulation) is black the cable has probably rotted and should be replaced as its ability to deliver heavy starting current will be severly limited. Check the engine end too and make sure that all connections are tight.
At this point you can diagnose the starter motor (and cables) by making sure that the engine is in neutral and the kill switch is set to stop by finding the starter motor solenoid. Using a known good Battery Booster cable, simply momentarily join the two heavy terminals together. If the battery cables and starter motor are OK, the starter motor should operate and spin the motor (inertia type starter).
You mentioned that the fault is a clicking sound when you operate either the starter or the power trim/tilt, both of which require a lot of current to operate. The most likely problem is battery or battery cables. Once you know that these are good and capable of operating the starter motor, if the fault persists, then we can get down to more in-depth diagnostics.
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