What does "Smart start aborted" mean?

[ccconway]

I left my boat in the water this winter, thinking I would be taking it out for CG Aux patrols or winter cruising. I had it completely winterized, but planned to replace the antifreeze in the sea water coolant system each time I returned. I also left the battery charger on so batteries would be ready. But one thing led to another and I never got out. Yesterday I visited the boat and decided to start it, just to see how it had fared. Got nothng except a fault message on the Smart Craft engine status display which said "smart start aborted". I might have heard a click sound when I tried to start the first time but am not certain of that. The battery readings were all around 13.5 volts for all batteries. This is a Cummings 150 engine. I looked in the engine manual and there was nothing to explain what "smart start aborted" means. I would appreciate any help I can get as to what might be happening and what the next steps to take are.

Chuck Conway

 

[Levitation]

Hmmm.. Possibly a combination of low water and corroded battery clamps after sitting unused... First thing I would do is open the hatch over the batteries and pry the covers off the engine battery (#2, on the lower left - have to loosen a couple of cable clamps to do this) and check the water level... I suspect you may have boiled the water out due to a charger runaway... THe Promarine charger is known to have some issues... Mine failed...

If the water level is normal, then use a VOM to check the battery voltage ... It should be at least 12.8 volts... If not borrow an auto charger and charge it up... If that is OK (or when you have made it OK) pull the cable clamps off the battery posts and use a battery post cleaner (auto store) to shine em up, put some vaseline, or silicone spark plug grease (auto store) on the poles and clamp them back again... Also look at the port-stern corner of the engine where the ground clamp (braided cable, among others) is clamped to the block... Take that apart, shine it, remove any paint, grease it, reinstall...

At that point it should crank and start... If not, then you have other issues - possibly the dreaded electronic chip failure...

 

[Levitation]

OH, and if the engine is cold you may have to parallel the house battery to the engine to get adequate cranking speed - the red battery switches in the cave...

 

[Capt. Chris]

Good advice from Levitation.

I don't know what "smart start aborted" means either, but what you describe sounds like a loose or corroded batt terminal.

Chris