I am going to kill myself.

As it couldnt be more stressful to get the loan and everything else for this boat ready today, this happens...<br /><br />I get to the marina where i bought the boat from. They get all the batteries out and they pop em in the boat. engine clicks. doesnt turn over. They say - oh. probably battery doesnt have enough juice to turn over - they put on a power pack and voila, motor starts right up!<br /><br />I spend 5 hours in the bay no problems! I get to my slip, put it in reverse, motor stalls (I think cause i needed to get out of a tight spot fast).. i turn the key... click.<br /><br />We work our way into the slip manually.. we leave. I come back 20 mins later starts right up. I shut it down and go inside for a bit... I fugure i'll go take a ride 1 hr later...<br /><br /><br />Click....<br />Click....<br />Click....<br /><br />NOTHING!!!<br /><br />I think the starter is dead and i tried hitting it with a hammer, and nothing! I am freaking out, cause i bought this boat to be somewhat reliable. When my wife gets home and she wants to go out tonight, what am i going to say, the 10 grand i just spent isnt running?!?!?!?

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Well...go ahead stop talking about it and do yourself in. It absolutely sounds like you have a good reason to die. Please, fill the fuel tank and leave all your available cash on the boat.<br /><br />After your gone.... I would disconnect every wire and clean every connection. I might have the starter rebuilt just so someone would make sure the brushes are okay and everything is clean. I would load test the battery. When all that has been completed I will invite your widow out for a nice ride. <br /><br />Basically I figure that having a boat to tinker with is a good reason to live.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

its upseting but in reality its a minor problem compared to the many disasters going on a post or two below<br /><br />it really comes down to finding were 12 volts is not getting right now when it wont turn over which is only going to happen with a meter and a littel time<br /><br /><br />tommays

Re: I am going to kill myself.

ouch

Re: I am going to kill myself.

By the way - since i thought it was the batteries - i ran out right before 5pm and bought 2 new batteries to find out i still had a problem - wasted $110 real quick.<br /><br />I dont know how to replace the starter and it looks like a real pain in the a$$ to get to with a wrench... any advice?

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Yeah, stop panicking. I would start by disconnecting your brand new batteries, and cleaning the terminals and connectors to the starter. If that doesn't work, clean every connector and wire back to the ignition switch. After that, Ask these guys on the board that are good with meters etc. I am new too and have not bought one yet, but we both will need them if we are to stay with boating. You could have bought a couple of real nice ones for the price of a battery. Good luck. Also, invest in the bible...errr manual for your drive and system. Its an absolute MUST. Good luck.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Call the Marina you bought it from, tell them to come fix it or take it back. They must have given you some sort of warranty. Return the batteries if you can.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Stop, get your hand off the panic button, stop throwing money at it till you locate the problem.<br />It's an 89 boat, it ain't new and may have some problems. Even if you did change the starter and it still went click, click, click, what would you do????<br />Now, do you know how to use a test light or VOM?<br />Do you know how to read a wiring diagram? Can you follow directions? It's a very easy system to test.<br />Actually, I can probably tell you how to test it with just a jumper wire if you promise not to blow yourself up

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Ralph - I bought it from a person who had the boat at the marina - they werent involved in the deal. Just helping out.<br /><br />Don S - No i dont know how to use a test light or VOM (I assume that means voltimeter). Im not too good with wiring diag's, I can follow directions, but i MIGHT blow something up ..

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Stick around, let me get some drawings together. Can you make a jumper wire with some clips on the end? Nothing big or fancy, some 16 or 14 gauge wire and a couple of clips from the auto parts store.<br />Make it long enough to get from the battery to anyplace on the engine.<br />I'll be right back.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

On your engine, you have a slave solenoid for the starter as well as the starter solenoid on the starter. Here is a basic wiring diagram of your starting system.<br /><br /> <br /><br />First thing you have to do is make sure all the battery connections are tight and clean. This includes the ground connections on both ends. If it's all green and corroded then it will probably kill all the power to the starter and you will only get a click...... sound familiar????<br /><br />Ok, lets say the cables are all good, clean and tight.<br /><br />Locate the slave solenoid on your engine. Should be on the starboard front of your engine (I think)<br />Looks similar to the picture below.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Note the wire color codes, because A, and B could be backwards from the diagram, along with C and D and it will still work.<br /><br />First thing you need to do is remove the coild wire out of the distributor cap and ground it to the block somewhere, and make sure there are no gas fumes in the engine compartment as you are going to be making some sparks.<br /><br />Take your jumper wire and hook one end to the Positive terminal of your battery. Take the other end and touch to termainal A of the slave solenoid (yellow red wire). When you do this, the engine should crank so be prepared. If it doesn't crank, touch it to the other yellow red wire <br />(Terminal D) if it now cranks, go back and try A again, if it clicks again, you have a bad slave solenoid. If it clicks when you hit terminal D with your jumper, then the problem is either the wire going from the slave solenoid to the starter or the starter itself.<br /><br />Here is a picture of the starter and solenoid.<br /><br /> <br /><br />If you touch your test lead to terminal B, and the engine cranks, then your problem is probably the wire or connections between the slave solenoid and the starter.<br /><br />If it just clicks, touch your test lead to terminal C. (Careful, it could get hot and burn you). The starter motor will run, but it won't crank the engine. If the motor runs, the starter itself is good, but the start solenoid is bad.<br />Probably easiest to just replace the complete thing with a MARINE starter, don't go automotive.<br /><br />And be careful of where you touch that test lead. If you touch any ground it will spark and get hot. It's not fused and will melt and burn if you don't pull it off quickly.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Hey Don, You are the kinda guy that makes this forum as great as it is and we all need as friends, Good Job.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Wow don - Awesome post!<br /><br />I am going to try that first thing tomorrow morn.. Its dark here now, kinda hard to do this kind of work, but seriously.. you rock!

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When i clean all the terminals - should i use coca-cola and a wire brush?

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Originally posted by Mnemonic:<br /> When i clean all the terminals - should i use coca-cola and a wire brush?

Click to expand...

Go to the auto parts and get some CRC contact cleaner or equivilant. Use a small wire brush, or wet sandpaper or something to clean the contact points with after you spray it. <br /><br />On the solenoids, I use liquid tape after reassembly to help prevent the problem down the road. Even then, they still can corrode due to electrolysis.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

"coca-cola"????? What!!! you trying to do make things sticky and collect ants?<br />A wire brush and sand paper will work fine. Then use some grease to prevent further corrosion.<br />Also, on the batteries, get some regular nuts (Not those danged wing nuts) and use a wrench to tighten them down. make sure the connections from the cable to the cable end is solid clean and not frayed. I've seen too many battery cables with good clean connections that the people overlooked the fact that the cable was loose in the cable end and just flat wouldn't work for anything.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

heh... someone on this board told me to use coca cola on the cables with a wire brush on my outboard power cables... worked pretty good too <br /><br />I will get some CRC and do all this stuff first thing in the morn thanks again guys!

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Btw - I was thinking about this... when i stopped once in the bay i got the clicking noise, then waited a min and it started - the same thing happened when i got into the slip.<br /><br />So do you think that means just a bad connection? or do you think it may be a solonoid on its way out? <br /><br />I noticed the slave solonoid on the starbird front side of the motor, and the connections were corroded and kinda green. the little plastic box surrounding it was broken.<br /><br />hopefully a can of contact cleaner can fix this.

Re: I am going to kill myself.

replace that soleniod, clean your terminals and you probably found one of a possible few problems. Green-bad. Clean-good!

Re: I am going to kill myself.

Just an FYI<br />If you find you have a bad slave solenoid, and there is no place to get one on Sunday, don't worry.<br />Just disconnect both Yellow/red wires from the slave solenoid and bolt them together with a screw and a nut. Tape them up and make sure they can't short out on anything. You then have bypassed the solenoid. Should work fine till you get a new solenoid.