HELP boat problem won't crank

Hey guys, heres whats going on. I have an 05 Malibu VLX. was out at the lake and the engine just died. It was running great all day nothing out of the norm, volts, temp everything was great. It just died. When i go and turn the key all electrical boots up, and i turn the key and it just clicks once and it won't crank. I replaced the starter not it. I pulled the all plugs no water in the engine. still same thing. It won't crank at all. I tried turning the engine manualy on the fly wheel but no luck however when the starter ingages the wheel moves a little not much but no cranking. Any ideas? All conections look ok.

If you can not turn it over manually, either the motor is frozen or a drive belt accessory is frozen. That is assuming the trans pump is not frozen.

First thing to check is voltage when you try and crank the engine, if it drops below 9v get another battery! Where did you get the replacement starter from and does it have the same pinion gear? Next remove the raw water pump and fit a socket to the crank and try to move engine clockwise at least a full rotation, this will eliminate everything except the starter if the engine rotates (should be quite stiff due to compression). If it is still not rotating remove the serpentine belt that drives the alternator and try again.

If it does rotate check the fly wheel teeth for any damage (burs, marks or rust spots) as this can cause the pinion on a starter to jam.

Hey Bear, we rode a couple times on Kevin's Xstar out at Elsi a couple years ago. What's up!

It's probably the safety lanyard. I now have an 05 VLX as well and had the same problem the first time I took my boat out last year. The boat still cranks if the lanyard is bad but won't start.

hey whats up jason! Let me know when you need a third! I was thinking that but my boat won't crank at all. I think i'm just going to have to wait untell the dealer can get me in which isn't untell aug. 7th. Sucks.

The lanyard idea had to be one of the worst for inboard boats. Mine shorted out over Memorial day weekend. I lost a week on the water when all I had to do was short two wires together. Took me about 3 minutes, what a waste> I don't understand that point of the stupid thing in a 23 ft boat....sorry for the rant

Bear, I misread your post. I thought you said it was cranking. Yeah, it probably isn't the lanyard then. Good luck with whatever it is.

I'll let you know next time we go out. I have only been out 4 times this summer. Between work and other obligations, I am getting hosed this year.

Adam, I agree on the lanyard. I was so miffed when it happened to me.

So I got it up and running!!! So I took off the spark arrester on top of the engine and there were a few wire conections hidden between that and the air filter that were lose. So I made sure they were tight, and I messed with a few other electrical conections and it fired right up. Took it out to elsi tonight and ran it for an hour or two without a problem. So I quess its good to go. All I can figure is if it cuts out again I'll check the wires again or it might be a thrown engine bearing that reset and it might be a matter of time untell it throws again. Hopefully not because its running fine right now.