Breaker?

[oledawg]

OK, as a Donzi newbie, just having brought home to the lake a '88 Classic 22, and am trying to figure out what it is going to take to provide the proper TLC. Know some obvious things, like new upholstery, a cockpit cover, some "patching" for gelcoat bruises, etc. Took it out on the lake today and now have the hang of what it takes to "drive" this boat, ie putting the trim in the right place. Speedo is not hooked up so I used a GPS to see what I could do comfortably. Previous owner said the 454 Magnum would take this boat over 70mph, but the most I could get was 62. Maybe needs tuning, who knows, but enjoyed it in any case.

Put the boat back boathouse, put new battery cable hookups on the new battery that I installed earlier this week. STRONG cold cranking amps! Issue became that I bumped the ignition and everything shut down, like a bimetallic fuse had been tripped. Waited a few minutes and things started coming back on line. Hit starter again, and boom, all dead. Did this several times and then gave up. Lifted boat on up and hit the switch for trailering, and boom, same thing. For some reason the whole system is kicking out. The new battery has a whole lot more power but there was no issue earlier in the day.

Suggestions on what I should be looking for?

Thanks,

Oledawg :cool!:

[oledawg]

Don't think that it is the battery, so assuming that it is bad ground, educate me on what I should do next. Problem didn't occur until I put the new post clamps on, the previous ones were actually broken so there wasn't a 100% connection, there is now for sure. :cool!:

[BUIZILLA]

weak 50 amp breaker.... look for red button on breaker and check for free movement

[oledawg]

I know this is going to really sound stupid, but where should I be looking for the red button? I have no clue where the 50 amp breaker is. All I am familiar with are the little breakers and fuses on the dashboard. Point me in a direction and I will tackle it!

Best :shocking:

[farmer tx]

I know this is going to really sound stupid, but where should I be looking for the red button? I have no clue where the 50 amp breaker is. All I am familiar with are the little breakers and fuses on the dashboard. Point me in a direction and I will tackle it!

Best :shocking:

Starboard side, front of engine above fuel pump and seperator, forward of the exhaust manifold, below the main harness connection. (Big round plug with hose clamp around it)

[gcarter]

I'd strongly suggest buying a manual. The typical Clymer manual is available from your local Merc dealer, local book store, or Amazon, and eBay for about $25.00.
Answers ALL your questions.....even your original question here.

[oledawg]

OK, so a Clymer manual for a 7.4 Mercruiser has electrical system information on a '88 Donzi C22? Well, blessings on them, I would have thought that as specialized as these boats are, with custom options, etc. that almost everyone would be different! But I guess that some things have to be relatively the same.

Will buy the book, I am a believer in books and forums! Good thought. :cool!:

[BigGrizzly]

The red button is a manual reset most stock boats do not have auto breakers. Its a groung or crossed wired issue, not battery, that won't trip the breaker.

[oledawg]

OK, so when I have no power, not even a spark, then I do have power without doing anything other than waiting, what type of animal do I have? I am not at the lake right now, so I can't look to see if there is a manual reset, but I just don't remember seeing one. What I do remember seeing at the location shown above the fuel seperator is a mess of wires all taped up with electrical tape. I will explore and see what is actually under the tape, may be interesting! :nilly:

ALL INPUT SO FAR HAS BEEN GOOD! THANKS!

[BigGrizzly]

Engine power is only available with the ignition on. Question Do you have a battery switch some where one that disconnects the battery completely from the system

[oledawg]

Nope, is in the plan though since it stops leakage. I did replace the cable clamps with some quick release ones just prior to the problem coming up. Cables look ratty and small also, why my Harley has better ones! Got to measure what is there, looked like the positive cable runs up under the engine, likely to starter? Which reminds me also, when the problem occurred initially it reminded me of when on my Harley the solenoid/starter jams up. Could this be the problem? But that wouldn't explain the breaker kicking out when I try to use the trailering button to raise the outdrive.

When there is power, the blower, the bilge pump, etc. all work, just when you throw some heavy power to the system, ie trying to start it, lift the motor, etc. it all shuts down. :cool!:

[gcarter]

OK, so a Clymer manual for a 7.4 Mercruiser has electrical system information on a '88 Donzi C22? Well, blessings on them, I would have thought that as specialized as these boats are, with custom options, etc. that almost everyone would be different! But I guess that some things have to be relatively the same.

Will buy the book, I am a believer in books and forums! Good thought. :cool!:
Nothing specialized about the electrical system on these boats....just an ordinary Merc setup.....
Ya got one wiring harness, which includes the aforementioned breaker, on the engine. Then another harness that runs to the dash wiring, with a plug on one end that matches up to the engine harness and the other end has a plug that plugs into the dash harness.

[MOP]

Me 3 on a connection issue! Power that creeps back on means something it loose or dirty!

[oledawg]

Heaven forbid, all rational responses! I like that. When I get back to the boat later this week I will check out all that you have suggested and advise of what I find. Thanks. :cool!:

[MOP]

This may come in handy along the way!
http://www.marinemechanic.com/site/page101.html

[oledawg]

Excellent! Grazie :cool:

[joseph m. hahnl]

OK, as a Donzi newbie, just having brought home to the lake a '88 Classic 22, and am trying to figure out what it is going to take to provide the proper TLC. Know some obvious things, like new upholstery, a cockpit cover, some "patching" for gelcoat bruises, etc. Took it out on the lake today and now have the hang of what it takes to "drive" this boat, ie putting the trim in the right place. Speedo is not hooked up so I used a GPS to see what I could do comfortably. Previous owner said the 454 Magnum would take this boat over 70mph, but the most I could get was 62. Maybe needs tuning, who knows, but enjoyed it in any case.

Put the boat back boathouse, put new battery cable hookups on the new battery that I installed earlier this week. STRONG cold cranking amps! Issue became that I bumped the ignition and everything shut down, like a bimetallic fuse had been tripped. Waited a few minutes and things started coming back on line. Hit starter again, and boom, all dead. Did this several times and then gave up. Lifted boat on up and hit the switch for trailering, and boom, same thing. For some reason the whole system is kicking out. The new battery has a whole lot more power but there was no issue earlier in the day.

Suggestions on what I should be looking for?

Thanks,

Oledawg :cool!:

Sounds like it has a bad battery clamp. Bad batteries create excessive amperage at the battery terminals "can melt the lead if excessively low battery is persistently cranked".have some one turn the key and look for sparking at the clamps and wiggle them to see if the power comes back on. There also have been many threads where the ignition switch has been faulty. The trailer switch however is hot wired and does not need the ignition on to actuate, the trim tabs are also hot wired and will actuate with out the ignition on.

That is why I would say bad clamp at the battery or loose ground at the engine ground stud:crossfing:

A battery with less the 12 volts
"can melt the lead if excessively low battery is persistently cranked".
"it can also weld the nut so it would feel tight but in actuality it is loose"

I made previous statement only because you have replaced the battery indicating that a low battery was in the boat prior to installing the new battery:kingme:

[BigGrizzly]

I have seen this same condition on some corroded starter terminalds. It is an arc situation. This is the reason ALL my electrical connections except the starter is high in all my boats, even my trim solenoids.

[oledawg]

Well, on Tuesday I will have a chance to go back to the lake to check through the various suggestions to see what gets "Trouble" fired back up. Sure hope that one of them does, I have two good mechanics, but hate to give them my $$$ if I don't have to. Plus, if it won't start then I have to go through the drill of towing it to the boat ramp and trailering it to one of them, one close or the other one two hours away! My Harley does the same thing, gets a gremlin in it sometimes that is usually something simple, but the pure devil to pinpoint! But blessings on them both as loud and fast are good!

[mrfixxall]

Well, on Tuesday I will have a chance to go back to the lake to check through the various suggestions to see what gets "Trouble" fired back up. Sure hope that one of them does, I have two good mechanics, but hate to give them my $$$ if I don't have to. Plus, if it won't start then I have to go through the drill of towing it to the boat ramp and trailering it to one of them, one close or the other one two hours away! My Harley does the same thing, gets a gremlin in it sometimes that is usually something simple, but the pure devil to pinpoint! But blessings on them both as loud and fast are good!


check the connection at the starter,thats where the main power harness attaches to,they come loose after a whyle if somone didnt install the lock washer on the terminal before installing the nut that the + power lead attaches to the starter solenoid..if its loose it will need to be removed and depending how hot the tremonal got you may nees to replace the cable,worse case remove and clean the end,then use diaelectric greece to keep it from corroading before reattaching the battery cable to the starter.

also ck the ground cable on the rear of the block..

[oledawg]

Good suggestions, but I actually think that you have to be a gremlin to work on one of these things. I am 6'2" / 250 pounds and 62 years young, I just have a hard time getting under or behind some things on boats! Like I said, some things that should be simple just aren't! But I will for sure see how much wiggle room there is! :bonk:

[VetteLT193]

turn the key to on and move the battery cables back and forth at the battery (should be under the seat). check for sparks and see if the power comes online when you move the cables around.

My guess is the main battery wires are just old / bad. I had to replace them on my '88 Minx for this reason.

[oledawg]

I am highly suspicious of that, the cables are maybe as old as the boat, are hard/stiff, and there are relatively few strands in the cable. Suspect that some new high performance cables wouldn't hurt even if they are not the cause. Think that I am going to just start with the most likely suspects and keep working through them until the thing works. That is as long as I can reach what I need to! Stuff under and behind the engine might get a little tough for me. Best.:propeller:

[oledawg]

OK, it wasn't the breaker, it was actually where I had put new terminal/cable clamps on. The wires were corroded some and was causing the malfunction. Cleaned everything, re-installed, fired right up! Did learn a lot though. Thanks.:nilly:

[pdaigle]

I have a 89 Donzi Regazza 23 ft.

The same thing happened last year and again two weeks ago.

Last year, I could not find the trouble, but the mechanic found that the contacts to the 50 amp breaker/fuse were corroded, he cleaned them up and the boat did not give any trouble until two weeks ago.

As weird as it sounds, I was low on oil, I added oil and have not had the trouble since. I have talked to my mechanic and a few others and they said my boat was too old to have a oil cutoff switch; I'm still not sure if I believe it but the same as yours my entire electrical system shut down, except for the tilt??

As a precaution, I have a wire long enough to go from the positive side of the battery to clip onto the rear of the ignition to bypass the electrical system; it got me back to my trailer the first time it happened last year.

Re: to breaker/fuse location, mine is on the top of the engine, behind the carb. to the right or about the center of the motor.

Peter

978-758-8268

[BigGrizzly]

I have seen this same condition on some corroded starter terminalds. It is an arc situation. This is the reason ALL my electrical connections except the starter is high in all my boats, even my trim solenoids.
I though it sounded familiar.