Johnson J60TTLENE. Starter spinning but not engageing flywheel,tilt trim acting up.

[chead98]

Hi. Just picked up the boat from winter storage and decided to hook up my fully charged batteries and test her out. As soon as I try and trim it down some, the tilt/trim gets stuck. Finally after 10 minutes it lets go and works again. Then I try to start it but the starter spins really fast but won't pop up and engage the fly wheel. Even though I probably didn't need a new starter, I got one anyway and installed it. Nothing has changed, same problems and tilt trim is acting up again. I installed a new relay for good measure, and all battery connections are clean and checked. Just to note, I do have two starting batteries hooked up in parallel. That's because my batteries would keep dying on me for some reason in the past. Could this be the solenoid or water in the cylinder? I don't think it would be battery connections as it seems I have lots of power going to the starter and trim. Unless I have too much because when I turned it over yesterday I heard a spark crack from the batteries. Hope this post is not to confusing o too long.
Thanks in advance, Chris

 

[steelespike]

The starter bendix (the part that engages the flywheel) needs to be lubed WD 40 will work though a little light.
As far as the trim operate it and observe the action of the various components.
If its truely "stuck" then it would seem a mechanical part is not right.

 

[F_R]

So, you heard a spark crack from the batteries, huh? A big clue!! You have a bad connection and it is arcing across the fault. You say the connections are clean. I don't believe it. They probably have a layer of non-conductive corrosion on one or more connection. Take the connections apart and clean them shiny bright by scraping, sandpapering, wire-brushing or whatever, and reassemble tightly. I'll bet both the starter and trim problems will magically go away.

 

[chead98]

Cool. I will lube the bendix and clean the connections again. Even better this time. Tilt trim works sometimes but not all the time. Sometimes it gets stuck up or down. When I say "stuck" I mean always on, trying to either go up or down.. I will go out to trouble shoot again and post my findings. Thanks guys.

 

[chead98]

Okay, I lubed the bendix, cleaned all battery connections and you know what? All problems magically went away(for now anyway). Awesome and thanks for your help boys.

 

[F_R]

Not magic. There is no magic in electricity. It was invented at the same time as the rest of the Universe. It just took man a few years to discover it.

 

[chead98]

The tilt trim acted up again. I disconnected the connections, hooked them back up and it's working again. Its gotta be connections thats causing this. I will clean the connections. Yes, even better.

 

[chead98]

Hey guys. Not sure if this is the proper way to bring a post back to life but the problems are acting up again. Cleaned every connection from the batteries to the motor with a wire brush, sprayed batter corrosion protection on it and everything seemed fine in the driveway. Brought it on the water today and the same issues re-appeared. Starter spinning and tilt/trim stuck. When I got out there, I turned the key and it spun a few time without igniting the fly wheel but then kicked in after a few tries. Got it started and tried to trim it down then up and it got stuck up. Had to shut her down and bring it back in. Frustrating. What's my next trouble shooting step?
Thanks, Chris

 

[racerone]

Have the battery load tested.

 

[chead98]

I have two batteries connected in parallel. They are both new and fully charged. Thanks

 

[boobie]

A new battery can be bad. Just a thought.