www.iFourWinns.com

We went out today on Lake Michigan boat started no problem. We anchored the boat for about 6 hours with the batterys turned off. Went to start the boat again and the engine wouldn't turn over. Was towed in and when we got home we thought maybe there was something wrong with the batterys so we put the boat on shore power. Was going to start the boat and went to put the muffs on and there was electrical current to the lower unit. Turned the power off and tried to start the boat and it didn't turned over. Put the power back on via shore power and the lower unit had electrical current to the lower unit. Any ideas what might be happening.

Thanks.

Did you check the circuit breakers in the engine room? They are usually mounted on the left side of the engine - 2 red buttons.

Btw, what engine?

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

No we didn't we will check. Volvo is the engine. Thanks for the suggestion.

I think you may have a ingition reset right next to the key switch, little black push in button....can not remember for sure if they had it in 2000.

_________________
Brian Borchik
The Winds of Cold Springs Harbor Marina
Baldwinsville, NY

There is a little white button next to the key switch that we pushed to try to reset. It didn't help unfortunately.

Did you forget to put the safety thing on? In gear?

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

No the kill switch Safety lanyard was in place. We actually took it off and put it back on to make sure it was in place. Yes we (I should say my husband) made sure it wasn't in gear and in Neutral position when we started. My husband is baffled so I thought I would ask if anyone had an idea of what it might be.

Sorry, but what do you mean by "had electrical current to the lower unit." You could rise and lower the drive?? Just want to be sure.

As other people have mentioned, lanyard, breakers & is the drive in gear?? I would check all the wiring to the batteries and switch. Make sure nothing has come loose and the connections are clean. Are the cables rusting up? From there, how good are your batteries?

You mentiond shore power, so you must have on board chargers. What are the status lights showing you?

What I meant by power is that when we went to put the muffs on so we could try to turn the motor over after we had put the batterys on the charge with shore power while the Shore power was still on my husband on a big "poke" or shock from the lower unit (Off the propellar). I am wondering if we might have a grounding issue. We will have to check tonight when we get home on how all the connections are it was late when we got home. Don't see any rust on the cables and I am not sure about the status lights of the batterys.

You should not get a shock from the outdrive. You ether have a wiring problem with the outlet you pluged into or the boat. I would be really worried, if you were at a slip & some one went swimming! Not to mention the danger that you have right now. I would check the outlet first (and any cords) than the boat.

It turns out it was the ignition relay switch that needed to be replaced.