2000 Ficht 200 hp starts only with #1 plug out

OK - I have about everyone known to man stumped! I put my Striper away last spring and only used it once this summer - alway ran greatr (624 hrs)

Winter fishing came - I went to start it up and SLOW turning starter.

I bought 2 new Interstate 1000 cca batteries - still slow, new starter - still slow

It has a voltage drop to 7.8v across the solenoide when cranking. Cables look good - I hooke my jumper cable from the battery to the solenoide and starter and still slow.


Yes I know the motor needs to be spinning at 600 rpms and with 9.6 volts or better - not sure if there is a power pack problem.


Here is weird part - It will not start on 6 cylinders, but as soon as I take out the #1 plug it starts. I run it for 30 seconds and put the plug back in and it runs great all day with a bump start.

The mechanics have no idea and what to have me buy next. Can anyone help?

Re: 2000 Ficht 200 hp starts only with #1 plug out

Are the new batteries any good ?? Have them load tested and if they're okay start doing some voltage drop tests on the cables and connections. I have seen bad new batteries.

Re: 2000 Ficht 200 hp starts only with #1 plug out

Oil in crankcase thick and the new starter was it a OEM or aftermarket?

Re: 2000 Ficht 200 hp starts only with #1 plug out

Faztbullet said:

Oil in crankcase thick and the new starter was it a OEM or aftermarket?

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It was aftermarket - turned out to be a combination of battery cables, bad connections and a bad new aftermarket starter. I can return it, so I'm going to put the brushes from the new one into the old one.

I'm still dropping voltage from the solenoide to the starter.

When you say, crankcase oil, are you referring to the injected oil being thick? Or is there oil in the crankcase?

Re: 2000 Ficht 200 hp starts only with #1 plug out

I'm still dropping voltage from the solenoide to the starter.

Click to expand...

What you need to do to see if you have too high a voltage drop anywhere is take several measurements while the engine is being cranked. Measure voltage from the + battery terminal to the hot connection on the solenoid; measure voltage across the solenoid; measure voltage between the output terminal on the solenoid and the + terminal on the starter; and finally measure voltage from the engine block to the - battery terminal.

According to my OMC manual for a 1990 200 (I'd expect very similar specs for your engine) you're allowed a voltage drop of 0.3 volts between + battery terminal and the solenoid, 0.2 volts across the solenoid, 0.2 volts on the cable between the solenoid and starter, and 0.3 volts between the engine block and - battery terminal.