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Evinrude G2 Starting Issues

sottemail@yahoo.com

sottemail@yahoo.com

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Location
Oshkosh WI
This will be our 3 season coming up with our G25 GPD Bennington. I did have an issue with starting my Evinrude 300 G2 last year.
We are only up to cottage on the weekends and the first year I didn’t notice this as much as last year but numerous times I would go to start the motor, turn the key and nothing.
Then sometimes it would click and maybe start. Usually on the 2nd it 3rd time it would.
I’ve been pretty good about turning off the batteries while we are not there Mon-Thur.
I had some service work done last year and asked the dealer to check it. They load tested the batteries and said they where fine but could not mimic the starting issue. Which I think was BC because it did it when they brought the pontoon back up to me.
Example: we drove around for several hours and stopped for dinner on the water, I left my interior decorative lites and cup lites on for an hour and half while we ate to show off the Bennington. It wouldn’t start on that battery, luckily the other battery had enough juice to turn it over. Doesn’t seem right does it?
I going to start plugging it while where gone but I think there’s something draining my battery or maybe I have to change the batteries.
It’s a big motor to turnover.
Any suggestions?
Could it be the G2
 
I would check all of your electrical connections and make sure they are tight and clean.
 
cwag911 said:
I would check all of your electrical connections and make sure they are tight and clean.
Click to expand...

And check for a parasitic drain.
 
Agree w/Carl and Semp. Could it possibly be a charging/recharging issue? Maybe the battery has a dead cell. Replaced mine at the beginning of last season. It wasnt holding a full charge
 
I really don't think it has anything to do with the motor. I would first start with the batteries, led lights draw very little power and you should be able to run them for quite some time before worrying about draining the battery to far. So something else has to be draining them.
 
Appreciate all the feedback; Ive had batteries load tested on my Lund fishing boat before storage season and come to find out they were dead. Is load testing that inaccurate to verify dead cells?
I stored my pontoon in heated indoor space my first year having it and maintained the Batteries’s.
Not sure who provides the batteries Bennington or the dealer, maybe I got older batteries.
I will start off with 2 new batteries this year and do a parasitic drain test. (1trotter recommended Intersate batteries)
Does the dealer have to do a lot of final wiring after recieving the pontoon? I’m wondering if something could be wired wrong thats draining the battery. Although we didn’t notice this our first year.
Question for the members: does anyone have a charging system in there pontoon or have had a one or two bank charger installed?
In my GPD 25 #1 battery is behind the helm under the bench with main fuse block, my #2 battery is on the opposite side under my cabinet. There is a 1 1/2” tube that runs below floor and has the battery cables running in it, is there any issue trying to use this to get 2 bank charger wires over?
 
Just disconnect the batteries next time you leave. When you come back after a few days, reconnect them and see if you have an issue. If you do, you need new batteries. If you don't, odds are something is draining them. That's what I would do.
 
sottemail@yahoo.com said:
Appreciate all the feedback; Ive had batteries load tested on my Lund fishing boat before storage season and come to find out they were dead. Is load testing that inaccurate to verify dead cells?
I stored my pontoon in heated indoor space my first year having it and maintained the Batteries’s.
Not sure who provides the batteries Bennington or the dealer, maybe I got older batteries.
I will start off with 2 new batteries this year and do a parasitic drain test. (1trotter recommended Intersate batteries)
Does the dealer have to do a lot of final wiring after recieving the pontoon? I’m wondering if something could be wired wrong thats draining the battery. Although we didn’t notice this our first year.
Question for the members: does anyone have a charging system in there pontoon or have had a one or two bank charger installed?
In my GPD 25 #1 battery is behind the helm under the bench with main fuse block, my #2 battery is on the opposite side under my cabinet. There is a 1 1/2” tube that runs below floor and has the battery cables running in it, is there any issue trying to use this to get 2 bank charger wires over?
Click to expand...

I would think it you should be able to run the cable for the 2nd battery through the existing tube unless there's some underlying issues I'm not aware of. My batteries are in the same location on my boat but here's the pics of the install I did in 2017. I've been very happy with the charger and would definitely recommend it. All in was around $120 with the external plug.

http://club.benningtonmarine.com/threads/on-board-battery-charger.9131/
 
So, are batteries covered under the Bennington warranty?
 
I assume not, kind of brakes on a car, normal ware and tare item?

Thanks for the feed back on disconnecting the batteries
 
Michiman said:
So, are batteries covered under the Bennington warranty?
Click to expand...

No, dealer supplies them just like the motor. Batteries would fall under a "battery warranty".
 
I'm a HUGE fan of Northstar batteries. Nothing better on the market for deep cycle battery! Probably overkill in many situations, but I NEVER worried about them. Have one in the Cadillac and she never has a problem in our - 51C Canadian winter! The motor doesn't love it, but the battery doesn't care! :)
 
Wanted to thank everyone for there response to my engine starting issues, I have my batteries at home and are changing them now. I attended a Boat Show this weekend in Oshkosh and told a Bennington Dealer there that this Bennington Site is very important to me and my wife, it supplies us with good quality insight and information. This is so helpful for first time pontoon owners and experienced people as well! So again Thank You to everyone.
Since my last posting I may have discovered the problem with starting my Evinrude G2 300, I started researching on line G2 300 starting issues and found the link below very interesting. Theres 3 pages of conversation (no a lot of reading) and 1 guy replaced his switch multiple times because the dealer did not put the proper switch in.
The delay in starting this link talks about is exactly what’s happening with my G2. I turn the key and nothing, I never held the key to see how long it would take because I felt something was wrong and let go of the key. A lot of the times the second time the engine would bump like it was going to start but stop, them the 3rd turn it would start. Sometimes it just starts right away.
This is what lead me to believe it was the battery.
So for anyone running a G2 Evinrude I hope this is helpful. I will follow up with results.
Ive sent this to my original Dealer yesterday The Boat House, Delafield WI and to Sweetwater Marina in Oshkosh who is a Evinrude dealer.


https://community.evinrude.com/t5/Owner-s-Zone/G2-Start-Delay/td-p/31912
 
This solved my issue and saved me $$$$ as well. I was about to purchase two new batteries for a one year old boat. Thanks for the staring tip for my Evinrude G2 150HO

This was my protocol. On the frost try I held it for 10 seconds and nothing happened, second turn i smiled as it tried to start, then on the third try it started right up!
 
I have the etec 250- first year it would not always start first time, be out for a while and sometimes would start, other times not - always started eventually but took 1-3 tries . The engine warning light would come on and beep. Took back to dealer and he replaced the ignition switch/key assy. Worked but still an issue. Factory got involved and sent out another ignition switch and now starts first time every time. Sounds like you have the same year as mine, worth checking out.
 
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