Hello,

I have a 1986 22' Century Coronado Cardel which has a 454 marinized by
Hardin Marine. The boat has dual batteries and an AC/DC Norcold
Refrigerator. I purchased the boat in September of 2005 with only 198
Hours on her. Last September, I had my mechanic replace belts, hoses,
plugs, wires, cap, rotor, ignition (converted to electronic) and fuel
filter. In the beginning of this season, I also replaced 1 battery
with a new one, as the second tested ok.

In late June 06, at around 218 Hours, I asked my mechanic to address
some uneven idling and intermittent backfire issue that had developed.
My thoughts were to re-build the carb, but he thought it just needed
adjustment, which he did make adjustments to. He also suggested that I
also install a new, larger alternator, as the OEM alternator was only
putting out 13 volts, which, by the way is what it was spec'd for.
Prior to that, ironically, I had no issues with charging and I had been
spending many hours relaxing at sand bars and a few liquor bars. With
the engine off, I always ran off just one battery, which expectedly
drained after a few hours of running the fridge and radio. When it was
time to go...a flip of the battery switch to ALL and I was off and
running, no problemo! When not using the boat, on the lift, I always
flipped the battery switch to OFF and plugged in the fridge to AC
power. Long story short, my mechanic installed a new alternator.

On my first time out, with the new alternator installed, I headed out
and about halfway across the lake at 3/4 throttle and everything
died...engine and all power, gages, etc. The next day I called the
mechanic and he came out a day or two later. He diagnosed the problem,
by pushing a breaker on the engine and the dash pod and all power came
back to life. A few days later on the 4th weekend, the first time I
went out to start the boat...I had power, but it just cranked with no
turnover. I was perturbed that, on his previous visit, my mechanic
just hit the breaker and never actually tried to fire up the engine.
After being stranded on the lake a few days before, one would think
that he would have actually tried to start the boat, but he did not.
That next week, he again came out and discovered that there was also a
fuse or module, of some sort, that had also blown. I don't know what
the exact name was, but he ordered the part, which was like $80 bucks,
installed it and the boat ran again.

On my second time out with the new alternator and a new $80 fuse
installed, in almost the exact same scenario, I again lost all power
and was stranded again. That time, on the water, I hit the breaker and
the dash pod came back to life, but the boat would not turn over, as
the fuse had blown. A few days later, my mechanic returned with
another $80 fuse, along with my "original" newly rebuilt alternator. I
guess he finally remembered the old saying..."if it aint broke, don't
fix it."

On my third time out with my rebuilt original alternator and new $80
fuse, the boat ran as expected...nothing blew and I wasn't stranded.
However, I noticed that my Tachometer gage was now inoperative, stuck
at 1800 RPM's. My mechanic, once again, came out and disconnected
the tachometer, adding that the tachometer, all along, may have been
the culprit. Interestingly, the idle and backfire issue was still
present, so I again asked my mechanic to order a carb kit and rebuild
my carburetor.

On the few subsequent times (short trips) that I've taken the boat
out with the rebuilt alternator and new fuse, I became suspicious that
the batteries were not charging. I also now noticed that my engine
temp gage was not working, either. My mechanic came out again and
replaced both batteries, one of which was brand new.

The next few times out, I became gun-shy about using the boat and
rightfully so, after the new batteries also drained. Luckily, I was
not stranded. My mechanic, once again, came out to test the original
rebuilt alternator and discovered it was also now bad. My mechanic
took the alternator back to be rebuilt, once again. When he returned
to re-install it, he suggested that my Norcold fridge might be the
issue and suggested not using it.

This past weekend with my original rebuilt/rebuilt alternator and a
cooler in lieu of my fridge, I set out on a three hour tour with my
Mates, Hell Bent to prove that this boat would run without incident.
After an hour on the water and an hour stop at a bar for lunch, we
noticed a problem and attempted to limp home from 4 lakes away. The
volt gage was buried at 16-18 volts and we were losing power. Needless
to say, we did not make it and we were dead in the water. While I have
not called my mechanic, yet, I think it is safe to say the
rebuilt-rebuilt alternator is fried. I recharged the batteries and she
fired up, so at least I know I can make it to the boat ramp and on to
the trailer, if I need to.

I wrote this Novel because I wanted to describe everything that has
occurred, so that someone might help me to diagnose this issue or
provide me with some advice. By the way, I don't need an attorney,
as my mechanic has not asked for any payment...I think he's an honest
guy who is in over his head. There was a strikingly similar posting
from a few years ago, but Google would not let me respond because it
was too old, so I'm hoping someone can help! Who knows...maybe I
bought the same boat?

PLEASE HELP!!! I'm either gonna put a bullet in the boat or in my
mechanic : )

By the way, I still need my darn carb rebuilt!!!