1988 Bayliner Capri Sterndrive not getting spark

[Caycer]

Hello there. I have acquired a boat. Ive gotten to the point of starting it and I’m having an issue. No spark. Replaced the coil and condenser. It started and ran for 2 seconds one time and since then nothing. I have plenty of battery juice to turn over the engine pretty fast, have new gas in it, and have tried starting fluid. The points are opening and closing and I’ve even tried a known good spark plug grounded off to verify no power. I’m not that great at motors, but I’m trying to get this thing going without spending much money. Ive heard about stators, but not sure it has one. I see what looks like an alternator, but wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with generating electricity for starting. Can someone point me in the next direction? Thank you

 

[alldodge]

What motor is in your boat?
Merc, VP, OMC, 4, 6 or 8 cylinder

 

[Caycer]

Pretty sure its a OMC 4 cyl. I’m at work looking stuff up and not there at the moment. Probably too vague for a good diagnosis.

 

[alldodge]

Agree, once we know what you have, we can get GA_Boater to move it to correct section

 

[GA_Boater]

Pretty sure I moved this to the OMC section. :smile: Thanks, AD.

 

[Caycer]

Ok, it is an OMC 3.0 4 cyl. Finally got spark and traced it to a faulty ground coming from the battery. It was all corroded inside the wire. Now, the starting is real sluggish. Turn the key and it might turn over once or twice, then nothing. Release the key and it does it again. Every once in a while starts and runs good. Shut it off and try again and it repeats the same sluggish behavior. Thought it was the battery so it’s been replaced with an 800 CCA battery. Still does it. Starter is too hot to touch after trying to start, so I’m thinking it might be bad. Any idea on how to accurately find the right one? There are so many options and after finding the one i think it is, i read the comments and people are saying some are not the right one.

 

[kenny nunez]

Did you replace the positive cable, if not do that and see how it turns over. There are 2 starter bolt patterns, straight and staggered. Either one is easy to find, just make sure they are for marine use.

 

[alldodge]

It was all corroded inside the wire

Might need to replace the cables

 

[Caycer]

Cables replaced, same problem. Took the little boot off of the thin copper piece going from the end of the solenoid down into the starter through a hole and it looks like one of the thin pieces of copper broke off. I have the manual for starter removal and i attempted it, but apparently didn’t take out the right bolts and cant get it out. I really want to take off the cap of the starter motor and see if i can replace that broken piece of metal and see if that fixes the problem without having to take the whole starter out. Getting frustrated.

 

[alldodge]

There should only be 2 bolts holding the starter. If it is one that has 3, then the 3rd is ob the back end (away from the gear) and just bolts to the side of the block

 

[Caycer]

Ok, the engine manual says 3. If it’s the one i think your referring to, it is attached to a bracket that is attached to the side of the engine block. I can get to that one. I’ll try to find those two tomorrow. Thank you

 

[Caycer]

Oh boy! Got the starter off and the housing has long cracks in various places all over the outside. Might be why it isn’t working right.