motor malfunction mystery

lonewolf8814 · Aug 24, 2010

I've been working on a 66' 33hp super sea horse for a while. But now I'm at a loss!! Need some input desperately!! I got this thing all checking out right!! 120lbs compression each cylinder, good spark, and 35:1 fuel's flowing fine & dandy (I found alot of conflicting info bout the ratio, some said 24:1 some said 50:1, so I landed in the middle).. I've done rebuilt EVERYTHING but the powerhead!! However, she only turns over in earnest if the plugs are out, just barely chugga ... chugga's when they're in, not to mention the hot wire gets HOT FAST, like something's grounding out. I've pulled & checked the magneto, all that seems to check out good. WTF!?!?! Any ideas what the prob could be!? I need this thing going before labor day badly!!

Andy in NY · Aug 24, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

sounds like a classic case of a bad connection. check the battery cables and the connections at the battery, starter and engie ground. i had the same problem with mine when i first got it. a new set of cables fixed it.

kirmy22 · Aug 24, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

sounds like your starter is dragging, take it apart and check the brushes.

lonewolf8814 · Aug 24, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

I just rebuilt the starter, and I'm not even using ant cables yet, just jumping from battery with jumper cables.

royal0014 · Aug 24, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Ok, so if you're useing jumper cables, what hot wire is getting hot!

tx1961whaler · Aug 24, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Take all of the wires off of the starter stud and try it.
Make sure you have a good, fully charged battery
Negative jumper to engine block, positive to starter stud. Nothing else hooked up.

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Roy, the pos battery cable, its gets HOT HOT after just a few chugga's. Tx, There isn't any wires on it. I was going to get it working before I worried about rewiring the boat. New details though, I can take out 1 of the plugs and it'll chugga a couple times then it clears up and starts turning over good. It seems like I'm getting TOO much compression and it's venting outta the plugs holes, could it be a vacume line or the exhaust clogged maybe?! uugghh!

Bob_VT · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

You might need to check your rebuild work on the starter. I would not be surprised if there is a fault in the rebuilt starter.

Normally hot wires are an indicator of using a too light wire and OR corrosion inside the insulation. Could you be using an older set of jumper cables?

AlTn · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

is the gearcase in neutral?..or is the starter trying to turn something that's bound in the lu?

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

It's in nuetral & set on "start", prop spins freely. I guess it's possible that the jumper cables may be at fault, they're not new. They're so heafty I didnt figure it'd matter that much, I'll try some new jumpers, and redo the rebuild on the starter. The bushings are about half worn, would that do it?

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

I said bushings didn't I?! Sorry, all confuzzed here, LOL! I meant brushes.

F_R · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

OK, common sense here. Heating battery cables are caused by:

1. Cables too small or poor quality.

2. Too much current flowing through them.

As for #2, that can be caused by a bad starter. Internal short, dragging armature, etc. AND/OR.............not producing enough power to spin the motor. (chuga-chuga).

You don't mention the negative cable. Does it get hot too? The exact same current (amps) that flows through the (+) cable must return through the (-) cable. That is a basic electricity 101 fact. So unless you have it grounded in some other manner, and if only the + cable gets hot, the cable is highly suspect.

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

hey, it may be the armature draggin! One of them were when I checked it last, I turned the concentric, got it all gapped back to 020 and such, .. but why would it keep dragging? Would that be my concentric needs replacing?

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Oh, and I just tried some brand new jumpers, no luck. Yeah, the grounds getting hot too, I just aint holding that, so I didnt think to mention it. sorry

Tim Frank · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

You should settle on the right fuel mix...."splitting the difference" just means that you have NO chance of being correct....

F_R · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

lonewolf8814 said:
Oh, and I just tried some brand new jumpers, no luck. Yeah, the grounds getting hot too, I just aint holding that, so I didnt think to mention it. sorry

OK, with that added information, and assuming the cables aren't some cheap skinny $3.00 junk from the 4th world, your starter is drawing too much current. It needs repair or replacement. I'm also assuming the motor turns over freely and isn't full of rust or something.

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Nope, not the starter! I, or maybe F_R, found it!!! You hit on it earlier F_R, it WAS the armature ... well, the plate and the concentric set screw to be exact ......

One of the con screws were broke - unnoticably down in the base, but high enough that it turned when given the centrifical force. And the seat for the other one is just shy of being stripped. It looks like the folks who put all this new flywheel hardware in before I bought it was a bit too strong handed on the concentric screws!!! UUGGHH!!! I'm gonna see if I can find some con screws that are slightly larger, back out the broken shaft, and rethread the holes to the larger size. If that wont fly, I'll just have to buy a new plate & screw.

lonewolf8814 · Aug 25, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Well, I don't guess that'd be centrifical force, it it'self isn't spinning. I wouldn't think just vibration would be enough to shake it around so fast it wouldn't make a single effort at firing ....... maybe there's something else going on as well, what do ya'll think? Sound plausible?

lonewolf8814 · Sep 2, 2010

Re: motor malfunction mystery

Can someone tell me the trick for getting this stator plate off w/o taking the whole motor apart! It's whipping me something fierce!!

motor malfunction mystery

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