Does this mechanic REALLY know?

I have a 1986 SeaRay, with a Merc-Cruiser (5.0) V8. When I go to start it, it will crank and crank, but won't start, and kills the battery (or so I thought) Some times, it will do nothing, even on a full charge. I then have to play around with the shift to get it into neutral. When I fully charge the battery and try, it cranks, and all the gauges seem to "fall," just as if there was a power surge on it. The Marina (at first) said it was the fuel acellerator pump in the carborator. Now he said it's the starter. He has put three starters in it so, far and it still does then same thing. He said the starters (rebuilt) were defective. Full battery, and the gauges pull to the "over load" position. He said the starter heats up, to the point of too hot to touch. Has anyone else had this experience? How was the problem solved. Thank you!
The Eagle

Re: Does this mechanic REALLY know?

First , you posted in the wrong forum, this is an OUTBOARD forum, you should post on the I/O forum.
With my limited knowledge, I would say that the starter has very little to do with the engine not starting as long as the motor is turning over. The starter is getting hot because you are running it "TOO" long at a time. You should never run more than 60 seconds without giging it time to cool off. The starter draws a lot of power.
The accellerator pump could cause a problem if it is not providing gas for starting. Pour a very small amount of gas into the carb, and give it try. ("Make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy in case of a back fire") . if that makes the engine try to start, you then need to rebuild or give the carb a good cleaning.

Re: Does this mechanic REALLY know?

Thank you LT! I kind of figured, if it cranked, it wasn't the starter. This marina seems to just "take a shot at anything,' (and charge you, of course) and hope it worked. I even figured, no crank..starter or battery, but cranking and not turning over, had to be some kind of fuel feeding problem. Thank you for your imput, and for steering me to the I/O forum.
"The Eagle"

Re: Does this mechanic REALLY know?

Starting procedure errors may be responsible for the starting issue -- especially if the boat is new to you. An engine properly tuned should not need to be cranked so long the starter gets hot. As for the gauges going to "overload" that means nothing unless you mean they all "hit the peg" on the high end of the scale. That tells me you have a bad ground so instead of replacing starters. Start with the basics. Make sure both ends of both battery cables are clean and tight. That doesn't mean looking at them. It means taking them off, cleaning until shiny bright, and then reconnecting. Also check the terminal ends since corrosion there introduces resistance and hence creates heat. Lastly -- find a new mechanic.