Electrical gremlin......

[maxhunter]

Long story short (kinda)....Sunday we were tweeking the new carb. Setting timing, idle etc.
Boat ran great! So we tossed the hook after about an hour of playing. And soaked up sun for awhile....about an hour and a half
Tried to start boat but all I got was groaning from the new mini starter.
First thought was bad starter. Battery switch was on Batt 1.
Put the switch to ALL...same response. Starter groan. Cycled the ignition switch and it turned a few seconds and stopped.
Put the switch to Batt 2 and it turned over great and fired.
BUT the engine was idling faster than what I had it set at....HHMMM
We get anchor in and I asked the wife to put battery switch to ALL. I wanted to make sure both batteries were charged back up.
When she switched to ALL the engine dropped 400-500 RPM!? And engine sounds like it is rich.

I drove for about 30 minutes more and headed for the dock. It takes about 10 minutes of idling to get to the docks.
I round the corner and she dies........I get it back running but it sounds rough and I have to feather the throttle a lot!

At the dock I shut off the engine and get to the battery switch...something sounds like eggs frying!!!! I turn the switch off and quiet.

So for shits and giggles I flip it back to Batt 1 and same sound....What the Hell?
I believe the Battery switch is shot.

So do you think that a bad connection inside the Perko switch would screw with the HEI enough to drop 4-500 RPM and make it run poorly?

Boat is getting a new switch regardless...... If the voltage was that poor, could it /would it damage the electricals in the dist?
I have never ran across anything like this.

[CampbellCarl]

Perhaps the contacts where the cables bolt onto the back of the Perko. Or some corroded (inside the cable sheathing) cables.

Fought some gremlins in my moho that turned out to be cables (20 yr old moho). Cable should be somewhat flexible/supple (sp?). Test each cable by checking for flexability from one end to the other. You may have corrosion (imagine that in a marine environment) within the cable that is creating resistance and focking with the alternator output = battery voltage.

Report back!

CC

[maxhunter]

CC, THANKS FOR THE INFO!
I got the new perko switch installed last night and sure enough you hit on part of the problem.
I checked the cables for flexibility and had a couple ends that were not very flexible ~ 1-1.5 inches. Cut them back and put new ends on and sure enough there was some corrison in the cable.
So cleaned up the battery terminals too, they were not bad at all just a little dark gray, but cleaned up nice with a brass brush.

Found the old switch had some hairline cracks on the back and the terminals were not exactly tight.....the post was "loose" in the plastic.

And FYI, the original mount has to be modified for the "new" switch....PITA. The old switch was round and the new ones are almost a clover leaf shape. Did I mention that was a PITA?

Checked for sizzling......nice and quiet and all systems working.

Going to put it in the water tomorrow :D Can't wait to see how it runs now

Thanks again for the help!