83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

[hornofplenty]

Hello everyone,
I'm having trouble with my starter not staying engaged even though i hold the key in the start position. This is making it hard for me to start the motor since it doesn't stay engaged long enough for the motor to catch. The gear with pop up and engage the flywheel crank for a second than fall back down. Is this normal? I thought that if you keep the key in the start position than the starter would stay engage until you release the key. Any help would be appreciated...i'm a first time boat owner with no knowledge of outboards.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

Have your battery load tested and make sure all your battery cable connections (both ends) are clen and tight.

 

[hornofplenty]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

thanks for the reply, i'll try that tonight and let you know what happens.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

The starter (the bendix) will remain engaged only if the starter is spinning fast enough to hold it up. Once the engine fires the engine drives the bendix faster than the starter so it sort of spits it out of engagement. The key here is that the battery needs to be fully charged and you need good cables and connections. Don't just look at them. Disconnect them at both ends, make them shiny clean and reinstall them securely.

 

[Yepblaze]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

Battery

Make sure you are using a good freshly charged starting type battery.

I've seen where deep cycle batteries cause issues like this.

 

[hornofplenty]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

well, I'm back...I cleaned all the connections and freshly charged the battery and still it doesn't stay engaged long enough for the engine to start. Could the problem be internally with the starter? It seems like it is spinning at a good rate but obviousely not as fast as the motor went it tries to start. I do however get the motor to start eventually...should I just live with it or try something else?

 

[CharlieB]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

As Silvertip pointed out, as a cylinder fires the crank accelerates, disengaging the starter drive.

If your tune up is old, poor fuel, anything else that contributes to a hard starting engine, one cyl may not be enough to start your engine.

Are your spark plugs fouled, is your fuel fresh?

 

[hornofplenty]

Re: 83 mercury 50hp, starter won't stay engaged

brand new plugs and fresh fuel, although the engine hadn't been ran for about 6 years...could the carbs be gummed up?