A relative of mine recently took possession of my old boat, a 1997 Glastron Gs209 with 4.3 Volvo Penta GM-block v6 with and SX outdrive. This relative, who is an absent minded kind of individual, despite getting all kinds of instruction about how to start the boat, was recently putting it in the water, and, after turning it over a couple times in "straight up" neutral, apparently forgot how to give it fuel without engaging the gears, and just put it in gear and tried to start it several times.
She reported hearing a "humming noise" but the starter did not crank and she swear she did not hear any gears grinding. That is when she called me, and I told her to properly engage the driveline bypass to idle up without putting it into gear (something I even made a video about for her perviously). Now it is DOA.
In addition to the starter not cranking, she reports that the dashboard guages don't move. Although it seems that the other electrical is working (trim pump, blower, etc.)
Since I am a couple hundred miles away, I can't really investigate further. I'm thinking blown fuse, blown starter relay, fried starter motor, or, worse, something seized mechanically in the driveline / engine. Battery has been charged up, so it's not that.
I am hoping maybe someone can give me a little insight into what starting "in gear" might have done, and where to start with the diagnosis (other than telling her to take to a mechanic, which she does not want to do). If I recall, I think this boat may have had some kind of override that disabled the starter electrically if the key was turned while in gear, but that should disengage when she put it back into neutral. Possible that whatever that failsafe uses to determine if the drive is engaged became misaliigned?
I should add that the week before, she used the trim motor to life the rear of her boat in the driveway, unintentionally of course, and left it resting on the outdrive for a week. :facepalm: That is the kind of person I am dealing with. Anyway, that's why I'm posting here and not in electrical, because my personal theory is that there is anlignment issue in the shift mechanism somewhere related to that earlier snaffu.
She reported hearing a "humming noise" but the starter did not crank and she swear she did not hear any gears grinding. That is when she called me, and I told her to properly engage the driveline bypass to idle up without putting it into gear (something I even made a video about for her perviously). Now it is DOA.
In addition to the starter not cranking, she reports that the dashboard guages don't move. Although it seems that the other electrical is working (trim pump, blower, etc.)
Since I am a couple hundred miles away, I can't really investigate further. I'm thinking blown fuse, blown starter relay, fried starter motor, or, worse, something seized mechanically in the driveline / engine. Battery has been charged up, so it's not that.
I am hoping maybe someone can give me a little insight into what starting "in gear" might have done, and where to start with the diagnosis (other than telling her to take to a mechanic, which she does not want to do). If I recall, I think this boat may have had some kind of override that disabled the starter electrically if the key was turned while in gear, but that should disengage when she put it back into neutral. Possible that whatever that failsafe uses to determine if the drive is engaged became misaliigned?
I should add that the week before, she used the trim motor to life the rear of her boat in the driveway, unintentionally of course, and left it resting on the outdrive for a week. :facepalm: That is the kind of person I am dealing with. Anyway, that's why I'm posting here and not in electrical, because my personal theory is that there is anlignment issue in the shift mechanism somewhere related to that earlier snaffu.
