[Peter019fishing]

I have a older 20hp I'd like to install electric start on. I don't know the year but s/n is 5186081. Compression is too strong for my dad to pull. Any insight would be great. Thanks

[Mettaree]

Year is 1979. Hard part is finding a flywheel with a starter ring on it that will work. Does it have the mount for the starter? I have not been able to find one for myself - have tried a few tho. Good luck.

[andrewkafp]

Peter.. Just curious, but why do you want to go electric for a 20hp ? I can understand it for a bigger motor which takes a lot of strength to start, but not normally on a 20?

[Peter019fishing]

Andy,Too much compression for my dad now that he is 74!

[dcm3372]

Hi,I just did the electric start conversion on my 1980 30HP Mariner - it's not a cheap thing to do...Here's some things to consider that I hope will help you :Battery charging - if you don't have this already on your outboard you'll need to fit it (if available). You can make do without if you're prepared to charge the battery before a day out and you can start it manually if the battery goes flat.Toothed flywheel - If your flywheel has no teeth around the perimeter it'll be additional cost to change it over.Motor mounting - even engines that could support electric start didn't always have motor mountings (mine didn't). If not you might need to get a bracket.Solenoid - you can't wire the starter directly through a push-button. It must go via a marine quality solenoid or the button will burn out.That said, I'm very pleased with the conversion. The 30HP is well within my capabilities to pull-start but when seated at the front of the boat it was very inconvenient to climb back to start the engine and was a worry in case it ever stalled.Any other info you need I'd be glad to help you out.Good luck!

[Peter019fishing]

Thanks Dan and All who responed. After calling several places it would appear that this venture is a lost cause. It would be nice to come up with a decompression valve that one could open upon start-up then close.