Antares 8

[Len Moaven]

Hi I bought a new Beneteau Antares 8 (diesel nanni in board) and it was delivered on 28th Dec. After a great day out on Sydney harbour the boat refused to start the next day.

There was a low battery warning on the dash. After trying a variety of combinations to start the motor the thing that got it working was pressing the reset button on the bow thruster motor (this is a large button on top of the bow thruster motor). After this was reset the diesel engine came to life....ie after turning the key and pressing the start button the engine came to life.

We have had about 6 trips over the last few days. This would have involved starting the diesel engine at least twenty times......and of course using the bow thruster. Unfortunately during that period the engine failed to start another two times. Each of those times I have had to reset the bow thruster motor to get the diesel engine to start. This always happens in the morning.

Unfortunately this happened again this morning for the fourth time (after a day out the previous day). Unfortunately this time I cannot get the diesel engine to start. I have tried many different 'combinations', for example, I have put the bow thruster on or off at the same time as resetting / trying to start the diesel engine etc etc. But no luck.

So when I turn the key and press the start key there is nothing......ie the engine does not turn over etc.

For what it is worth the bow thruster works (as does all the other electrical stuff in the cabin).

Does anyone have any ideas? I don't think the batteries are flat!

Just as an aside the red (port) light does not work....could this be a clue?

I have also noticed that the dials on the dash are not straight and the red button on the accelerator appears to be quite worn.

Unfortunately everyone is on holidays so I am on my own!

I would be very grateful for any help.

Please feel free to contact me directly on moavenatbigpond.com

Ta

Len Moaven

 

[Matt341]

Just a thought but have you tried starting off the domestic battery bank rather than the starter battery? If the interior equipment & bow thruster are ok it may be that these work off separate batteries (domestic bank and/or thruster battery) and it could be a dead starter battery. Usually there is a key by the battery switches that can be used to put the batteries into emergency parallel.

 

[fishy Finger]

Make sure you have both the positive and negative main battery switches on. Sounds like a bad connection if they are.

 

[Len Moaven]

Thanks you are right there is a key that links the batteries but yes I have tried this. For a variety of reasons I don't think the batteries are low or flat. For brevity of the post I did not include all the combos I have tried. For example, I have connected the boat to the shore power......and the battery charger is working etc. It seems odd that resetting the bow thruster motor allowed me to get the diesel engine started.....I doubt I am the first one to have this problem.

ta Len

 

[Rum_Pirate]

Brand new boat!!. Call your dealer and let them sort it out. . . Watch what they do for future reference.

 

[Len Moaven]

They have only been occasionally available (most businesses are still on holiday). I get the feeling they are not sure what is wrong i.e. after resetting the bow thruster to get the engine to start the first time they did not seem to know why that worked. And after the first time said that it most likely would not happen again. The last comment was that they do not build the boat they are just the distributers etc etc so I am hoping that this is a known problem that I can fix.

 

[bluejasper2]

They have only been occasionally available (most businesses are still on holiday). I get the feeling they are not sure what is wrong i.e. after resetting the bow thruster to get the engine to start the first time they did not seem to know why that worked. And after the first time said that it most likely would not happen again. The last comment was that they do not build the boat they are just the distributers etc etc so I am hoping that this is a known problem that I can fix.

Hi Len, i have the antares 9 the bowthruster has its own dedicated batteries and isolator switch,has the dealer just connected bowthruster to engine start battery bank as you said you tried thuster before starting engine,the thruster will pull the battery power down very quickly so not enough charge left to start engine.just phoned a pal who had a 8 said his thruster had its own battery as well

 

[bluejasper2]

you could also email benateau they were very helpfull with me, hope this helps john.:encouragement:

 

[Len Moaven]

Thanks John.....soon after your email they had an electrician work on the boat for a day......and they found a couple of problems and they got the boat started.

One problem was that they felt the electrical cable on the nanni engine leading to some connectors was too tight so they took it off the bracket and used cable ties to secure it (see photo number 2).

Anyways I have used the boat for the last ten days with no problem......including a trip to pittwater on the open seas! In that time the boat has been started about 30 times with no problem.

Unfortunately the problem has re-appeared today. After a trip to the fish market the boat refused to start (it had already started twice this morning).

As far as I can see the bow thruster has its own battery (see attached photos.....there are three batteries in total).

One thing is that the bow thruster will work without the engine starting (see video).....my understanding is that this should not be possible without the engine turning over?

I am convinced that it is something to do with the bow thruster because initially re-setting it let the engine start on three occasions (but no luck now)......but I have no idea.

I can't believe that I am the first person to have this problem.....it must be known!

Hope someone can help.

ta

Len

 

[rustybarge]

Hi len,

Sounds like you have an engine sensor problem.
A faulty sensor is sending intermittent info to the the engine ecu, that's why the engine starts sometimes, and not at other times.
Get the supplier to test the ecu with diagnostic tool......
Guess.....gearbox neutral switch, or oil level sensor.......could be any of the 10 other sensors on the engine.


having exactly the same problem with my sons bike....grrrh:ambivalence:

 

[Sydneysider]

Hi Len,
I have an Antares 30 and the bow thruster will operate without the engine running.
Sorry to hear your problems and hope they are sorted soon

 

[Jim@sea]

On your boat I would be inclined to have some extra dials, voltage gauges (one for each battery) so you can immediately see what is happening with each one. And when the engine is running you can see if one or either of them are being charged.
PS, When you said that one of the switches seemed "worn", although the boat is "New" how do you know it hasent been used as a demonstrator.
Although a few years ago, I ordered a new Princess 33. Four months later when it arrived as a Brand New Boat " one of the engines would not start. And on its first trip (100 miles) a gearbox oil seal started spewing oil out and they had to fit a new gearbox.
It turned out that I had been sold a "stock boat" which had been in the water as a demonstrator. (which I had seen and declined to buy as I said I wanted the next new one out of the factory)
So if your boat is "New" and has problems, and shows signs of wear I would reject it.

I ended up getting a solicitor to get a full refund.

In hindsight (because I trusted the dealer) I now know I should have
I ended up getting my money back.