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We are finally starting again without hesitation or fear of being stranded. Some of you may have read my postings last year on the other board and they never really got resolved until a couple weeks ago.
Here is the not so quick overview.
Last Aug or Sept the boat started requiring the battery switch to be on BOTH to start the engine, after starting fine all summer. Not knowing the age or condition of the batteries I replaced them with more powerful ones. It did not help, but now I have new batteries. I cleaned all the cable ends. It helped for one start, then back to needing BOTH. I bought all new battery cabling and installed them. No change. I replace the battery switch itself, twice actually, with no change. So finally by process of elimination I guess it is the starter. I order one off EBAY and get it in Feb. of this year. I went down on a Sat. to replace it, but find that one of the two bolts is too close to the flywheel housing and I can’t get a socket on it, plus it is not going to be a real fun job considering where I have to lay.
One of the live aboard guys at our marina is good friends with an awesome mechanic for one of the local dealerships. I call him about three weeks ago on a day I took off and he has some time if I would meet him there. I headed for the boat and met up with him. After going over the whole story with him again, and letting him check things out and put his meter on different things, I get his professional opinion. “Wow, this is weird. It must be your starter”. He didn’t have time that day to put it on for me, but finally about a week and a half later he came back and did put the new one on for me.
Drum roll please. Now he puts the switch on 1 and low and behold it starts. He puts it on 2 and it starts. He puts it on BOTH and it starts. He put it on OFF and it does not start. WWWAAAHHHOOOO we are back to normal. Last weekend was the real test. We slept out. Stopped in a cove about 8:00 PM so now the fridge is running on battery #1. We hangout, use the lights, listen to the radio and go to sleep. We get up eat and mess around and finally about 9:00 AM decide to go for a cruise. So now battery #1 has been running everything for over 12 hours. I flick on the blower and let it run a few minutes. I then turn the key, blower on, fridge on, radio on and guess what happens. It starts right up on battery #1. WWWWAAAAHHHHHOOOOO it is fixed!!!!!! It never did that before, even before it started acting up, so the new batteries helped along with the starter.
I called him and he said to send him a check for $150 for the started install, I got the friend of a friend discount and I was cool and didn’t hound him about working me in. I sent him a check for $175 and now I am in with the best mechanic around!!!!
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1999 258 Vista
Floating on Easy Street
in Jonestown, TX
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