ignition, connection, or what?

[stoney723]

I have been having trouble (periodically) getting my motor to turn over.I turn the key and it doesn't do anything. If I keep trying it (3 or 4 times) it will turn over and start right up. Any thoughts? My battery terminals are clean and the connections there are tight. Thanks for your help.

[Dan-K]

I don't know if this will help you, but... I recently had the same problem. I found the source of the issue was a screw securing the panel to the right of the driver's seat had punched through the wire loom running to the motor. It was creating an occasional short in the ignition system. I fixed it by installing shorter screws.

[FD.]

I had the same problem last year.  Turns out a starter rebuild solved my problem.  The bottom brushes corroded and only made contact some of the time.

[stoney723]

Starter, of course, why didn't I think of that??? Sometimes my brain is too focused on being in the boat I think. Thanks for the ideas!

[Way2slow]

Starters are expensive, you need to make some voltage checks before just saying it's the starter. More times than not, this kind of a problem is something besides the starter.

First thing you need to do is see if you're getting voltage to the solenoid (one of the small terminals) when you try to start it, then check the other side (the other small terminal and make sure you have a good ground (battery negative) connection.

If you are not getting voltage to the solenoid, then you need to check the voltage at the key switch, neutral switch in the control box or wiring.

If you are getting control voltage to the solenoid, then check the voltage on the large battery terminal while you are trying to crank it, make sure that voltage is holding and not droping way down.

If it's holding on the battery side of the solenoid while trying to crank, check the voltage on the positive cable stud on the starter and see if it has good voltage. If it's dropping way down, check it on the cable.

If the stud on the starter has good voltage while trying to crank it, then you can figure on having starter repaired or replaced.

[stoney723]

I guess I need to pick up a voltmeter. At this point, with the cover off, I can see the starter spin. The gear spins every time, but doesn't  go up the shaft to engage the motor every time. The shaft feels unrestricted, and the gear rides up the shaft freely by hand. When the gear does engage the motor, the motor turns at normal speed and doesn't drag at all.

[Fishing Rhino]

While it may feel free to your hand, I wouldn't rule out that there could be a bit of a bind, or a lack of lubrication.

Haven't fiddled with a starter in years, but we used to use a bit of lithium grease on them.

Put a small dab of the recommended lube on the shaft, work the gear by hand to spread it evenly.  My guess is that might solve your problem.

Unless your starter is turning slowly, the gear should climb the shaft when the starter turns.

[stoney723]

I really appreciate all of the guidance. I'm going to have to do some more investigating, and quickly too. The water is starting to warm

[Way2slow]

Everybody that's trying to do a little of their own trouble shooting needs a digital VOM and learn the basics of how to use one.  They are worth their weight in gold.

With the new info of your spinning but not engaging the flywheel narrows your problem down significantly.    Two things can cause that, the voltage is too low and the starter is not creating the inertia needed to kick the bendix up to the flywhee, or as Fishing Rino stated, the thing just needs a little slickum on it.  The best stuff I've found is a penetrating oil that has litium grease in it.  Give it a good spray of that and you're problem should be cured.

[stoney723]

I'm baaack!  ok, here's where I am at this point. 12.+volts at the battery, 12.+ volts to the solenoid main positive which holds when cranking. On one side of the solenoid I have . 2 volts steady while cranking, on the other side I have 9.45 volts steady while cranking. I read somewhere that I shouldn't have less than 10 volts on that side.I can hear the solenoid click to engage. Any further suggestions?   :-/

[Way2slow]

If the starter is spinning at a good speed (250+ rpm), the solenoid is doing all it's suppose to do.

The voltage drop you get is going to depend on how good the battery is and how much of a load the starter is putting on it. Usuallly I don't like to see the battery go below 10.5 volts. Even at that, sometimes it will shut down you're electronics everytime you crank the boat.

Now, if it's dropping at the starter and not at the battery, you have a dirty/bad connection somewhere between the battery and starter.

I thought you said the starter was spinning but the bendix was not engaging the flywheel. If that's the case, spray some WD-40 or some sort of lubricant on it. If it engages then just put a good lubricant on it.

[stoney723]

I really appreciate your help and patience with my electrical ignorance. The starter spins, but not every single time. I did lube it. The voltages I listed were at the solenoid, and they did not drop, but read that constantly.

[Way2slow]

I'm having a little difficulty following your checks.  Lets start from the beginning.  Also, post the tenths of voltage, those are very important.  A 12 volt battery is very close to being fully discharged at 12.0 volts.  Fully charged, you should have 12.6 to 12.8 VDC after the battery has sat for 24 hours and you spin the starter for a few seconds to knock the surface charge off.  Recovery time is important also for checking battery condition, if you pull the battery down to 12.0 volts cranking for several seconds, it should recover almost all it's initial voltage within a few seconds.

Now, check the voltage across the battery then crank on the motor to see what the voltage drops too.  Again, tenths of a volt are important.

Leave the meter's negative lead connected to the battery negative and read put the positive lead on the the positive cable stud on the starter and crank it.  This voltage should be the same voltage you got at the battery positive.  If it's lower, move the positive lead to the battery cable side of the solenoid and try it again.  If there is an increase in voltage from what you had at the starter, clean and tighten the cable on the starter, and the starter side of the solenoid.   If you still have a drop, connect the meters negative and positive across the two big terminals and crank the motor over, you should only show a very minimal voltage, if any.  If there is a few tenths across it, the solenoid is probably bad.