200 opti hard starting cold weather

[r619]

I have a 2000 200 optimax. Just got back from a trip to bay de noc where air temps were low 20's and water temps were in high 30's and even though the battery charger was plugged in every night, the boat was extremely hard to turn over. The battery has been checked and should be adequate. The boat would not start at the landing, but within a half hour of leaving the landing with my kicker, the motor would eventually start and once started would run flawlessly. The kicker is not electric start so it should not have an influence on the electrical system. Any ideas on what is going on? Any special precautions you guys take on cold weather trips with no access to a garage to ensure starting?

[Hot Runr Guy]

The battery has been checked and should be adequate.

I guess I'd start with this statement. As you know, there is a pretty substantial MINIMUM battery rating for an Optimax. Plus, lead acid batteries lose efficiency in colder weather. So, I'd go back, and look at the rating and age of your starting battery. Just because "that's the battery the dealer put in" doesn't mean it's up to the task, in extreme conditions. And yes, I'd consider air temps in the low 20'sF as extreme for an outboard application.
HRG

[Johnboy]

Follow HRGs advice and also check all the battery cable connections for any looseness or dirty ends. Look at the cables where they connect to the battery for a swollen look . It is not unusual for corrosion to travel inside a cable, sometimes for long distances. Make sure the cables are the proper gauge. An undersized cable will not carry the needed amperage in cold weather. Finally after making sure that the battery and the cables carrying the current are in tiptop shape there is one more thing to do if the starting motor is still turning unusually slow. Check the actual starting motor current draw in the conditions you described by using a handheld ampmeter on the hot wire going to the starting motor. The meter I am referring to has a U shaped saddle on the back that you simply place the cable into while cranking the engine .

[Redbone]

Opti's need at least a battery with 1000 cca. Also they will roll over slow in very cold weather anyway.

Bob Piette

[Johnboy]

I have a 2005 150 Opti and it does indeed roll over kinda slow with a 1010 CCA battery fully charged even in warm weather. Keep in mind that these are 6 cylinder, 2 cycle engines. That is a lot of cylinder pressure to overcome for each revolution of the engine.

[staylor]

Starting batteries lose cranking capacity as they age, and as others have noted, Opti's need a big battery. My Opti 150 has a smaller displacement than your 200 and has a battery rated at 1000 amps cranking at 32 degrees F. When operating below 40 degrees it cranks a bit on the slow side. When I replace this battery I'm going to look for one with 1200-1500 amps if available. One tip I can pass along is that after you've cleaned the contacts, replace the standard wing nuts on the battery with stainless steel elastic stop nuts, hex type. These can be torqued with a wrench and won't loosen over time. One other trap that can catch you with batteries is the shop who insists on greasing the cable ends before putting on the nuts. The grease will reduce the contact area and often will burn if the nuts loosen up so that you won't start. The concept is to clean everything, tighten the nuts on clean cable ends- and then smear a coat of grease over the nuts, cable ends and posts to prevent corrosion.
Doug

[Pauleye620]

Not sure if your ECU has been upgraded but I have the same motor and the dealership sent it in to Merc and did the upgrade and now it runs grate no more stalling when its cold,what the other guys said about the slow turn over is still true but when it goes it wont cut out on you.Just put the boat away on sat so I have still been using it when it was cold.

[REW]

p.s.
Since the temps just hit -20 F here in Minn, maybe you need to give your motor some cough medicine to help the staring issue.

have a happy holiday.

REW