E35ECSM slow to crank

Well, the symptoms are:
- In the spring before splash cranked and spun like a dream.
- After sitting at the dock for some time the outboard turned slow to crank. But cranked properly every few tries.
- During summer it got worse and more rare to crank properly and finally impossible. The boat was used just a few times for short trips.

What I know:
- Charge voltage is non-existent. I'd expect 13,5 V or more and what I measured was the battery voltage raising only a little with engine on. Battery voltage had dropped to 12,2 V before recharging.
- Solenoid is suspicious. It has been immersed before, and during tests measured a high resistance once in off-position.
- I can pull-start the engine well enough.

- What I have tried:
* Reconditioning all connections.
* Start booster connected to battery.
* Start booster connected to solenoid hot post and engine ground.
* Jumper cables from battery to engine ground and solenoid hot post, both with booster connected and without.
* Jumper cables from battery to engine ground and starter positive, both with and without booster.
* Recharged battery.
* Jumper cables from recharged battery to engine ground and solenoid hot post.
* Jumper cables from recharged battery to starter ground and starter positive.

What am I left with but a bad starter? Could a starter turn sour on its own? I'll measure voltage drop across connections and amperage draw from starter once I'll have to boat on the trailer again and a helper.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Bad jumper cables?
Any smoke when you hook the starter leads up?

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

No smoke, and the jumper cables have worked well so far when needed. Mighty sparks when jumping directly to starter, as expected, but that does not prove much about current.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Gotta go to work now.
But sometimes especially of you have tightened the starter bolt up lately the bolt inside can get pulled through the insulation and short out to ground thus slowing the cranking speed right down.
Sometimes this happens slowly through shorting paths building up in the insulation.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Thanks, that is a good piece of advice. Indeed when I reconditioned connections this spring I noticed that starter positive post was really loose and tightened it a bit. Now, is there any way to diagnose that, and further fix it besides a cowboy patch or replacing the whole unit? On the surface it seems that my unit has the Bosch starter and the brush set seems to be available for it.

I'd assume starter should read less resistance between positive pole and (starter) ground in that case. And amperage draw for starter higher. SELOC manual does not say what is the expected resistance for starter, and to replace or rebuild the unit if amperage draw exceeds spec.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Yes you could measure resistance and see if it seems really low.
i have a 60hp but il measure it later and post back.
You can normally undo starters base and look for faults- parts that have come off often sit on the base showing up the reason for a fault

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Thanks, I'd appreciate that. I should have the boat up later today (It's 9am in here now) and then I should be able to measure voltage drop across all connections, and resistance and amperage draw from the starter.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

I measured mine and i didnt get what i expected. i measured from a ground on the starter to the point where the hot +ve wire goes in. I had very low resistance between these two points, which alternated as i turned the starter shaft, i suppose thats do to with the communicator down the bottom.
I suppose if you a getting a short the reistance may not change as the starter shaft is turned.
Also it might only short when the very high current is applied when the starter is activated.

The resistance was about 2ohmns which is about within the error of the meter so it was basically excellent continuity which was intermittently interrupted as the starter shaft was turned

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

I reread your initial post.
i think you should pull off your starter and see how it spins with jumper cables from your car battery straight to the positive and neg to ground on it.
If that doesnt work then start dismantling it.
If it fixes it, i ve rebuilt those solenoids before. All you need is a drill to remove the rivets holding it together, some sandpaper to get rid of all the bad electrical burns on the solenoid contacts inside and then a rivet gun to do it back up again (or some screws if needs be)

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

You'd expect a quite low and changing resistance from a DC motor. Oh well, I suppose the amp draw test will be revealing. I'll see (and report) what I'll find out.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Well i suppose mines good then!
If you dismantle it go easy on any spray such as wd40 as thatl short it out on reinstall

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

So well.

I've now measured voltage drop at every point, 0,4 V on both main cables, ~10mV everywhere else. 10,2 V over starter. My cheap digital multimeter did not tolerate starter current, so I don't know what its amperage draw might have been. But while at it ...

- I quickly tested compression, 100/95 acquired promptly.
- Dropped LU. Starter got a little more revolutions after that.
- Without plugs in starter had no troubles spinning the motor.
- Re-fastened plugs, and after a good hit on the solenoid it cranked the engine well again once.
- Charging circuit components, stator and rectifier, tested out good. Connections were wasted out.

Well, after finding out, or knowing before-hand, that I would be best to renew the solenoid in any case, redo main cables and charging connections, and unable to determine the starter amperage I decided to bore the solenoid open. The problem could lie partly on all of the following; battery terminals (which have marks from jump starting), main cables and connectors, solenoid and the starter. But still I don't know should I renew the starter also. I would now have an opportunity obtain one for 100 USD instead of the normal 200 EUR (260 USD) one would cost me. :/

I am still wondering because jumping the starter worked a lot better the last time I had to do that, but it wasn't very easy to get a good enough connection with the cables ...



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Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

i always put the cables on the starter and do the touching of the jumper to the battery by hand as you then dont get those burnt marks on the starter terminal.
If its going ok doing that then i wouldnt buy another starter

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Went twice over everything possible, and today I finally opened the starter. True enough, the other positive brush had its connector corroded shot. Armature looked alright the eye, a new brush set could be enough but the bendix is also worn enough to renew.

Could be the time to just renew the whole unit.

Re: E35ECSM slow to crank

Well well, installed new starter also today, and with it including a new solenoid and new connectors everything works like a charm again.