Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

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First off, love all the info in these forums and could not find anything as specific as my issue below. I just bought a 1998 Regal with a Volvo Penta 4.3L GL. I am having issues getting the starter motor to engage and turn. When I turn the ignition key, I can hear the fuel pump engage. I used a voltmeter to confirm that 12V is getting to the starter relay and that it is being passed down to the starter solenoid (I did order and replace the relay just to make sure it was good as it wasn't making a solid click initially, but felt like it was vibrating some). I've checked the starter solenoid terminals and I'm getting 12V when key on on the red/yellow wire. I have 12V from red Batt+ on the solenoid post all the time. I temporarily jumped the red Batt+ over to the black wire terminal that feeds the starter motor wiring and the starter did spin up. I'm suspicious that my starter solenoid might be bad as I never hear it engage the starter motor gear in the engine flywheel. The other thing I'm not sure how to diagnose is the purple wire on the terminal across from the red/yellow ignition wire. I've read online that the purple wire is a resistor wire for the starter solenoid but I have no idea where it goes and I don't know how to troubleshoot it (what voltages to expect on that terminal during starting).

One final comment that could be related, when I had the boat out last week, I tried to start it over and over for about 1 hour including jumping the battery thinking it might be dead. After letting it sit a while, it finally did start and once it started and was running, it continued to start without any further issues once we were on the water. However, the ignition key off would not kill the engine. I had to pull the emergency kill switch out to get the engine to kill each time we stopped it. I trailered the boat home and when I went out the next day, it was back to not starting at all and I've not been able to get the starter to turn over at all via the key switch since.

Any ideas or help you could give me would be a huge help!

 

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Re: Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

I temporarily jumped the red Batt+ over to the black wire terminal that feeds the starter motor wiring and the starter did spin up. I'm suspicious that my starter solenoid might be bad as I never hear it engage the starter motor gear in the engine flywheel.

Hi there, Since you were able to successfully jump the starter solenoid and you installed a new starter relay, That sure suggests something is not right at the starter solenoid.

Have a look at this engine starting diagram to see if it will help you out, Good luck with it.

http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser...ting-your-engines-starting-system-167035.html

 

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Re: Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

Yeah, I think I'll take the starter off today and start working on the solenoid. I haven't been able to find any diagrams that show the purple wire I have on my starter solenoid though. On my solenoid,

, terminal A has Red batt+ on it, terminal B has the red/yellow wire coming from the starter relay that goes +12V when the ignition key is turned to start, terminal C has a black wire running to the starter motor and terminal D has a purple wire that I have not been able to exactly trace where it comes from (I'm suspicious that it comes from the back of the alternator). The purple wire goes +12V whenever the key is in the run position. Does anyone have a wiring diagram showing where the purple wire on terminal D comes from?

 

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Re: Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

The purple wire is part of the 12v accessories circuit coming from the ignition key circuit. It is only used on the GL engine models.

Follow wire number 6,
Boatinfo - Volvo Penta WT series Engine Electrical and Ignition Service Manual

Here is some good info for you since you're about to open up the solenoid,
Volvo Penta Ignition Fuse Blowing - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

Hope this helps, Good luck.

 

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Re: Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

The purple wire is part of the 12v accessories circuit coming from the ignition key circuit. It is only used on the GL engine models.

Follow wire number 6,
Boatinfo - Volvo Penta WT series Engine Electrical and Ignition Service Manual

Here is some good info for you since you're about to open up the solenoid,
Volvo Penta Ignition Fuse Blowing - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

Hope this helps, Good luck.

Thanks for the documentation references. Those will be a huge help now and in the future. I got the starter off today (no easy task with the location of the bolt closes to the engine block). I took it into an auto parts store and it confirmed that the starter is functional except for the solenoid causing the gear to move forward and engage in the flywheel. Not surprising, but nice to have confirmation of my diagnosis. I believe I'm going to go ahead and order a replacement starter... although I cannot find a part number on the starter because I believe it is underneath the marine grade coating. I was surprised to see that you can actually get both the starter with and without the marine coating on it since I thought the marine coating was part of the additional protective feature. I'm pretty sure I'm just going to go with this one:

Amazon.com: MARINE COATED STARTER Volvo Penta 4.3GS 6cyl 1993-1996 50-12177A2 50-712428A3: Automotive

If nothing else, I'll still take apart the solenoid and compare it to these images:

I'm very curious if I'm getting the same short on the central washer. Even if I could fix it, I'm not sure how long the fix would last so I might be better off with a new starter and solenoid.

 

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Re: Volvo Penta 4.3GL Starter Issues

Just wanted to come back and provide the solution I found. It was indeed the starter solenoid. I took the starter off, took it into an automotive shop and they put it on their starter tester (this took some convincing as they were concerned about ruining a marine starter with their test). The starter would spin but the solenoid would not cause the gear to engage just as I had suspected. I bought the marine starter I linked above from Amazon (there was one about $10 cheaper but it wasn't marine coated and I wanted to keep it coated as the previous one). I installed the new starter (which took some maneuvering given the accessibility. I found using a rope to tie it up so that it had the weight removed but could move it in to position still.) The new starter cranked the engine right up.

I tried to find a tool to open the old solenoid like the photos showed above, but there were two complications. First, the bolt holding the solenoid together was for a very small 12 point star socket which I didn't have on hand (didn't feel like buying a new tool just to do some exploring). Second, the marine coating on the solenoid made it very tough to break the seal with a vice grip or pliers so I was never able to get it opened up to investigate. I'm keeping it now for parts at this point.

I also found out while digging into the starter design that the purple wire on the 4th starter terminal is a 12V that brings the solenoid coil to 12V to prevent arching when the red/yellow ignition wire goes to 12V and engages the solenoid. It's simply to try and remove another possible arc point which is why it is concerning when mechanics have replaced a marine starter with an automotive starter that doesn't have this protection.