Is it My Starter

I am having problems getting my boat to even turn over. I have a new battery so I know that is not the issue. When I turn the key all I hear is one click coming from the rear of the engine. The starter does not even try to crank at all. Also the click I hear when I turn the key is not coming from the starter. It is coming from a plastic box above the starter. Any thoughts?

You probably have two starter solenoids and one has failed. Use a DVOM to diagnose which one is defective or if it is indeed a starter motor. Basically check for battery voltage at the solenoid on the starter. If it is there then check for output to the starter motor.

If it is infact a bad solenoid make sure you use a marine grade replacement.

test page

peter is right, but a way to check that is jump the starter. Ther will be a few small sparks, so be careful. There should be three wires off your starter red(+) black(-) and yello (acc). Jump the red to the yellow. use any piece of metal, I use a buck knife, make sure the ig key is turned on and the motor should crank and start. If it does then it one of the solenoids is bad. the solenoid can stick, sometimes tapping that "box" wil help to.

I replaced the starter today and that was not it. I took the starter and took it to a starter repair shop and I am glad I did though. When they opened it all this nasty rusted water poured out. They said it probably would have worked (they tested it) but it was soon due to fail. I trust these guys because I have done work through them before. Then I bought a "new" refurbished one. Now I have taken out the solenoid. Although, one solanoid did not really look like one since it hade a 50 watt breaker button on it for reset. Hopefully, this will work. I will post again later once I have installed the solanoid. I will keep y'all posted. Thanks for the help.

Mike
Austin, TX

Mike....that 50 watt breaker type one is probably the starter relay. That went out on my boat and it wouldn't turn over either. You can test it by putting a screwdriver across the terminals and it will turn the engine over just like Adam said above. It was easy to unbolt and bolt a new one on

I replaced the solenoid and now my engine will crank but it will not turn over now. I am afraid i could have some water in my gasoline. You fix one problem only to encounter another.

is your battery getting tired? not too uncommon after jacking with messed up solenoids and starters. i'd try another battery or jump start it before anything else.

The battery is brand new. It sounds as if it is not getting fuel because it just cranks w/o trying to turn over at all. I think it might be a few things (water in the fuel, spark plugs or fuel pump). I am not sure how to tell though.

Are you sure you have all your wires tight on your battery? There are usually at least two on the positive (red) terminal. I had a similar situation on a Volvo car once (the small wire corroded through and it would turn over fine, but no spark). If you recently replaced the battery, then check that all wires are back connected.

My brother's Maxum boat was/is experiencing a similar problem. After tightening his battery terminals the problem is greatly improved, but still doesn't engage the starter every time. I'm assuming an electrical permit type function is causing the lack of start in his. Please post once you figure it out.

Charlie

(Message edited by charliep on May 14, 2004)

Mike, what do you mean by "it just cranks w/o trying to turn over at all" ??

To me, "cranking" is the same as "turning over". Either one means that the starter is rotating the engine.

Do you mean that the starter turns the engine over but it never actually starts? It doesn't fire?

Some previous exchanges discussed a solenoid with a red button on it. This would be the main circuit breaker. If you have messed with this then it is possible that you have somehow left the ignition circuit disconnected.

It is also possible that the ballast resistor bypass circuit (if your boat has one) has been left disconected. A typical starter relay has two large posts and two smaller posts. The battery and starter connect to the two large posts. The wire from the starter switch connects to one of the small posts. The other small post is used to bypass the ballast resistor on the coil.

When a ballast resistor is used the coil is actually designed to operate on a much lower voltage, like 8 volts or so. When the engine is running and the alternator is providing 13 volts the resistor drops the voltage to the coil so that it doesn't over heat.

For starting, the resistor is bypassed so that the coil will get a 10 volts or so while the starter is cranking. If you have such a coil setup and don't have the bypass hooked up then the coil won't get sufficient voltage during cranking and it may not start.

There is another possibility as to why your boat won't start. But first, can you give us a little history? What type of boat is this? When did it run last? What exactly have you done to the boat since it ran last?

Let me tell you a little tale of woe....

My dad owned a tournament ski boat. It was a small, not often heard of brand: Pro-Am. Made in 1979. Kind of a copy of a Nautique. The engine and running gear were pretty standard stuff.

One year the boat was getting a bit finicky with the starter. Sometimes it would crank right over and other times you had to work the key a bit. My dad decides to swap the starter out so he runs down to the local auto parts store (bad idea to start with) and exchanges the starter for a new one.

He gets the starter home and puts it on, then can't get the boat to start. It's at the end of the season so he just puts the boat away for the winter.

Next spring he wants to use the boat but still can't get it to start, so he brings the boat over to my house so I can work on it for him. I spend two days trying to diagnose that stupid boat. The engine cranks fine. Plenty of fuel to the carb. Plenty of spark. Compression is fine. But it won't start. Won't even try. An occasional POP but no indication of any attempt to run.

So I check the timing. It is WAY OFF. Dad had messed with it some, so I set the timing again. Still won't start. I look at the distributor, spark plug wires and all and determine that the firing order is all wrong. "Dad, did you replace the distributor cap or something?" "Don't remember doing that, but it was last October". Hmmm... rewire the distributer. More pops and backfires now, but still no attempt to run.

Check the timing again. Something doesn't look right. The pully is marked with TDC and a few marks with BTC. But the BTC marks are coming up AFTER the TDC. This engine is rotating the wrong way!

For reasons I never understood, that boat had an engine that rotated the reverse direction of a normal automotive engine!

It is not the only boat that is built this way.

If your boat went from working to non working when you replaced the starter, I would double check which direction your motor is supposed to turn!

Rod McInnis

yes, that is common. happened to my neighbor}

If it cranks but does not fire, try spraying some starter fluid in the air cleaner/spark arrestor and if it fires for a few seconds then the ignition is prolly working and it's a fuel issue.

OK, since I replaced the solenoid the engine cranks just fine now but it will not start. It is not even close to starting the engine firing. I think it might be 3 things: bad fuel, bad spark plugs/timing or fuel pump.

Also in repsonse to Rod McInnis. The engine intially would not crank at all. I replaced the starter. It still would not crank. Then I replaced the solenoid and it now cranks but the engine will not start. Obviously, one problem has been fixed by replacing the broken solenoid. Now I just need the engine to start after cranking.

Well this might be a little too obvious, but... Is it fuel injected or carb? If it is a carb, are you giving it some gas while cranking? On my boat (with carb), if it has been sitting for more than a week or so, I usually pump the throttle twice before even turning the key. Then, sometimes I have to give it a little more gas while cranking. If I just turn the key without giving it any gas, it will just crank and crank, and never fire.

It is a carb and I have pumped it several times while trying to start it.

i, personally, would try jump starting it if you haven't already. a new battery doesn't mean too much.

do you have points? have they been replaced lately? coil? tune-up?

Update Austin, TX:
The patient awoke out of her coma today with all the vigor of a 5 year old. I went to replace the spark plugs but when I pulled off the old plugs I realized the new ones I bought were not the correct spark plugs. I put the old plugs back in and just decided for kicks to drop the boat and try to start it. What the hell do you know it started right up with no effort. I believe by removing the spark plugs I aired out the engine from vapor lock (the plugs were not able to fire with no O2). Therefore, the problem was a bad solenoid and vapor lock. Thanks, for all the help guys.

You may want to replace the plugs anyway if it has been awhile,,, and they may have fouled out.

what exactly is fouled out?

Update Austin, TX:
The patient went back into a coma today. Her family was with her when it happened.
I went out today thinking all problems were solved. Stupid me. The boat once again is cranking but not firing just like before. This really confuses me because yesterday she started right up and ran like a champ. I pulled all spark plugs and I will replace them tomorrow morning in the hopes that we can have a weekend. Any thoughts y'all?

ignition control modual?
I had a problem with my boat last year, it would start, run fine for a couple of seconds, and then switch off. turned out to be a $13 control mod.
(it is on a plate under your rotor, with two plug in connectors on it. 3"x2" roughly.)

The "Supra Dealer" South Austin Marine aka azzholez said it might be a fuel filter filled with H20. I am replacing the filter and we'll see. Any other suggestions are appreciated.