1988 Bayliner 1950 Capri Cuddy - Force 125 starts on trailer, not in the water

[Pete69]

We bought this boat two years ago and she ran great until this season.

What we've done: Replaced spark plugs and 1 spark lead, rebuilt both carbs, rebuilt starter, replaced both breakers, replaced trim & tilt relays, replaced all fuses and replaced 1 connection (not sure what it's for, black wire on one side, orange on the other; looks like circular plastic housing was attached to dash, at some point, but now hangs freely beneath the kill switch.Ground wire (blk) had come loose from the connection and isn't on the wiring diagram in owner's manual)

After each repair, she has started easier, but sporadically. After doing the fuses and one wire this morning, she started on the trailer 4 separate times with different intervals between starts and ran as long as I felt comfortable dry. Once we put her in the water, she wouldn't start.Tried a couple of times, reset the breakers and made sure she was primed and she almost caught, then nothing. Just a click.

Update: New battery, too!

 

[SkiDad]

Sounds like you have a short of some kind or battery cable issue. Maybe unhook from the battery and clean the leads going to starter and solenoid.

Here is a tip for easy starts. Pull base of throttle toward you then push throttle forward (this puts it in fast idle). Then push the key in while turning it (this will choke then engine) and it should start easier. You only need to choke when engine is cold.

 

[Simple_Man]

Did my eyes go bad, or did I see that you ran the boat dry? If that means you ran the boat with no cooling water "on muffs or in a tub" Please change the impeller

 

[Frank Acampora]

What you are comfortable with and what the engine is comfortable with are two very different things. It only takes about 30 seconds to destroy a dry impeller. NEVER start the engine without a water supply.

If you are re-setting breakers, then you definitely have an electrical problem.

The "circular plastic housing" Is probably an overheat indicator buzzer. One wire attaches to the ignition switch and the other wire goes back to the engine through the main cable. Photo would help.

If you are getting a click, that means you are hearing either the choke closing or the solenoid closing. If it is just the choke, check on the right side of the engine near the bottom carb. See if the neutral interlock switch is being depressed. If it is not, move the control handle slightly to re-center the neutral cam and depress the switch.

 

[jerryjerry05]

The Black thingy attached to an Orange lead is an overheat buzzer.
If the circuit breakers are popping?? Something's hooked up wrong??

Check the battery leads and ignition.
WD in the key switch.
Just a click could be a starter or a solenoid.
Test light??

 

[Pete69]

Thanks for the input everyone, I never ran it more than 10 seconds dry, so I don't think it's the impeller.

Battery cables at the starter would make sense, the terminal ends were cleaned when we changed the battery. I'll give that a shot!

Electrical is a probable as it looks like the previous owner swapped out the 6 fuse panel for a 9 fuse panel behind the dash and currently using 8 of them

 

[Simple_Man]

NO what we said is, NEVER run the engine dry the impeller will burn up at idle speed in about 10 seconds.