Electric Starting

I have a 1962 Johnson Sea Horse 40 HP. I hadn't started it for over 8 months but before now it was starting good. I put a hot battery in it but when I turns the key, I can only hear a little clicking noise in the box where the solenoid and voltage regulator is located. It started good when I pulled the rope manually. Could there be a problem with the solenoid or regulator caused by sitting up so long?

Re: Electric Starting

Problem is probably in the wiring for the starter circuit, Ray. Remove, carefully clean and then reattach all of the big cables from the battery to the engine, both ends.

Re: Electric Starting

JB said:

Problem is probably in the wiring for the starter circuit, Ray. Remove, carefully clean and then reattach all of the big cables from the battery to the engine, both ends.

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Ditto. BOTH ENDS (engine and battery).

Re: Electric Starting

I cleaned the big cable ends and connected them back but I still have the same problem. Does anyone have any more suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Re: Electric Starting

Hopefully you've removed, cleaned, and reinstalled all the cables via a wrench or pliers (no wing nut finger jobs), including the ground cable at the powerhead. I assume that the battery is good and fully charged. Diid you also remove, clean the cables at the solenoid and at the starter stud?

The clicking indicates that the solenoid is pulling in and engaging BUT jump across the two large solenoid terminals one time to see if that engages the electric starter.

It's possible that the electric starter itself has temporarily insulated a brush from the armature. Turn the starter armature a few times by hand to correct this...... sometime a gentle tap or two on the starter is needed.