You tell me

[Gerry Gerry]

Seven days ago I disconnected the hot leads from my crank battery because boat was going for repairs. Today I get the boat back and reconnect the leads. I had to disconnect because this boat drains the crank battery. When I check the power supplies got nothing to the horn, but dash gauges worked. Also got four consecutive beeps, every two minutes. Last time I got this pattern it was because the battery was too small. Well this battery is fully charged, 900 CCA, and only six monthes old. When I connect the battery charger I get the horn to work. WHAT is the problem?

 

[Bruce Freeman]

If it is not lack of power (batt full charge) then it is either a bad conection or the horn or wireing may be the problem.. 900 cca should sure as heck toot your horn. How big of charger are you hooking up to get it to work. Trying to help. Did you test the batt to see if it was still fully charged? Could the dealer have hooked the battery back up and let it go dead? Did you leave the batt cable laying on top of the batt or in the well? If you would like some help tracking the problem your self I will be glad to lend an e-hand. E-mail or through here I will do my best to help you solve your electrical problem if I can. I am a sick person who like these things..

P.S always disconect the neg cable instead of the positive.

BF

 

[Jim B]

one thing i noticed on my 882 was the main power cable that runs from the battery to the accessory fuse panel was way too small to do the job. if you look back a week or two you will see my post on it. like yours my horn was weak and my finders didnt work well. i upgraded the wire and it fixed all the problems i was having with accessories. the 16 ga wire they ran just isnt enough for the job, the funy thing is the nmma certifies the electrical system on the boat but being an electronics guy i know its not enough wire. I dont think that has anythging th do with the alarm beeps, you may need to get that looked at.

 

[Rich Stern]

I think I would attack this problem with an VOM.



Somehow you are getting a voltage drop to the horn. The fully charged battery may be putting out 12.8 volts, and the voltage drop in the wiring lowers it just enough to cause a problem. You hook up the battery charger, it's probably putting out 14 volts or more, it overcomes the drop enough to work.



I'm guessing there is a poor connection somewhere in this chain.



Run some 16 gauge wire (speaker wire is fine) directly from the battery to the horn leads (be careful that you don't short anything). Bet it works just fine. Start working backwards from there, trying other devices, and figure out where the voltage drop is.



Try to measure the voltage at as many devices as you can reach, and compare them to the battery voltage. Should be the same. If not, you can begin isolating where the power drop is.

 

[Richard Whittemore]

I agree with Jim B... tring to run all those electrons down a small wire and it's like dumping the rush hour traffic down a side street.

See if any of your wires are warm to the touch. If they are replace them with a larger gauge.

You might want to call the dealer and ask him if he discharged your battery. Weak battery on your car will light the lights but not turn your starter over.

 

[Rich Stern]

I'd be willing to bet the warning sound is related to the electrical problem. Remember that the Opti is a computer and a lot of sensors. If electrical power is a problem, it could easily interfere with the computer or the sensors, triggering false alarms. Solve the electrical, maybe the warning goes away.

 

[Rich Stern]

By the way, have you gone to more than one dealer? The right dealer/mechanic will tear into this problem and fix it. We know lots of 929 owners here, and nobody has ever described this problem before you, so we can assume it's not a design flaw. There is a cause. Keep the heat on the dealer (preferably a different one than you've been going to) and get it fixed.