www.iFourWinns.com

I went to pickup my boat and move it to my new marina. I had to hook up a battery to raise the drive.

When I hooked up the battery, I was in a hurry and accidentally reversed polarity (negative to positive, positive to negative.)

I turned the battery switch to 1 and the alternator smoked a bit. I would say the switch was one about 10 seconds or less.

What damage did I cause? Do I need to replace the alternator? How can I test it with a multi meter?

After this happened, I corrected my mistake and was able to raise the trim. I'm worried now that either my motor won't fire up (haven't tried yet) or it will start but not charge.

Any advice is welcome. Boat is a 248 with a 5.7 GS.



Thanks,

Say a prayer and start checking everything. Hopefully you have some blown fuses and that's it.

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2003 268 Four Winns Vista
F-350 King Ranch Diesel (Tow)
1990 Four Winns Fredom 180

I'm not familiar with the set up of the electrical system on the newer models but there are a couple of big 50 amp fuses in the engine harness that could have blown...and it's also possible that there were some fusible links blown too. Another possibility is that the diodes in the alternator may have been blown...I'd start with the wiring schematic for your model and check all fuses...and any fusible links...then try starting it and see if everything works and the alt charges..
Some years back a relative did the same thing trying to start my sister in law's car...and I wound up having to replace the battery, a couple of fusible links and an assortment of fuses...after that it was fine...

One thing I think all batteries should come with is a very large and obvious red + painted under the the positive post so you can't mix em up even in a dark engine bay....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

You probably fried the alternator if you saw it smoking. At least on the older alternators, the diodes would blow and there would then be in pieces rattling around inside the alternator. I experienced this myself one time on a boat that I inherited - grandpa hooked up jumper cables wrong:) If you have a starter/alternator rebuild shop in your area or if you know someone who can rebuild it for you, it should be relatively inexpensive.

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USCG 50 Ton Master Inland/OUPV Endorsement+Towing

1998 278 Vista - Twin 4.3 GLs, Kohler 4KW Gen, AC/Heat.
1999 Yamaha Waverunner SUV
2003 Yamaha Waverunner SUV w/MR-1 HO conversion