57 RDE-19 hard to crank

[Adam d m]

Hi I have a RDE-19 35hp, it is verry slow to crank. I got this motor last year and don't know any of it history, was told it runs. Ok here is where I'm at when in try the stater it cranks so slow that it will not build up speed to run (crank, 5sec, crank, 5sec) and so on. New battery, rebuilt starter, rebuilt carb, good spark, 125psi in both cly. If I take the plus out it cranks great, one plug in cranks hafe as good; but runs, put other plug in back to same problem, (no differnce if I have the top or bottom one in). Spent a lot of time playing with it and dit get it to run (with both plugs in) ran it for 30min thinking it needed to clear out or something. Turn it off and same thing.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Check ALL battery connections all the way to the starter, they have to be clean and tight, including the grounds.
Will the starter spin it over properly if you use a set of jumper cables and jump the starter directly?

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

If I use jumper cables it has no effect on how slow it cranks. Seems to me that it's holding compression.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

You might want to pull the starter and open it up and see what it looks like inside, might be time to rebuild it.

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

I just had the starter and the carb rebuilt.

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Seems like it is holding compresion, could it be a clogged intake port? I pulled the exhaust and all of that seems free and open. Could it be a shim issue in the starter (long shot)?

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

I was thinking and just tryed this, took the plugs out and put put some fuel in the chambe. It started right up and cranked good, but once I shut it off its back to its slow cranking and want go. To me this means it is starting lean and seising up how do I fix this.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Leaving the electric starter out of the equation for the moment... Does it start and run when you pull start it?

Being that it spins slowly when you jump directly to the starter, I would suspect your "rebuilt" starter still has an issue...

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Leaving the electric starter out of the equation for the moment... Does it start and run when you pull start it?

Being that it spins slowly when you jump directly to the starter, I would suspect your "rebuilt" starter still has an issue...

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

If I pull it still hard to turn over, the thing is if it fires on the 1st rotations that helps it get going and that starter can do it. If it dose not fire on the 1st rotations thatn its not going to do it. I tryerd a differrent stater off a 40hp I have and it made no change. Could it be a week spark? Still seems like it should crank and crank even with out spark or fule.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

The motor will be hard to pull over in any case - they don't call these "Big Twins" for nothing... Have you done a compression check?

If the motor is fouling with fuel, it will not pull over at all - had this happen once with a different motor where the carb float stuck open and fuel filled the crancase and one cylinder, effectively locking the motor up. If there was enough fuel in your motor to prevent it from turning over, it would simply not turn over, not turn over slowly.

Dumb question - have you done anything to the lower unit? Bad bearings in the lower can add drag to the system, maybe enough to make it turn over slowly. Dry dropping the lower unit and see if things spin over more easily...

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

All good questions. I took the lower unit off to see if that was it and no effect. Compresion is 125 in both. Tryed a differrent cly head with no effect. Think I going to pull the carb back of and the plugs out and crank it dry than put the pulgs back in and see what happens. Note the if fuel coming out the front of the carb when trying to start it (thinking that should not happen). Alsow should there be one or two magnets in the flywheel this only has one? Thanks again for the input.

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Ok I took the carb off and the reed plate to see if it was hanging up compresion in the crank case. Not the fact; still hard to trun so this means that the starter is not able to over come the compresion it the clys. I think it might not be the right flywheel on this thing or is there any passages in the casting that might be pluged up?

 

[82rude]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

its possible the coils are too close to the flywheel and are dragging or hitting the magnet.

 

[Adam d m]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

dont think so. I'm going to put the fly wheel off my 40hp on and see

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

Get a set of heavy gauge, new wires, like 4 guage or 2 gauge, and wire it direct to the starter with lugs, both POS and NEG. Then attach the POS lead to the battery, then simply touch the NEG lead to the battery to jump it. Does it now crank? Ill bet it does.

Faulty wiring/connections. Cheapo jumper cables dont always do it. No enough contact surface area, and not large enough gauge.

 

[dockrat100]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

If the motor is turning over slowly, why would starting lean have any effect on starter speed? When you pull the starter, check to see that all the brushes are moving freely in their little channels, and are free to make contact with the armature. I think there are four, and I suspect that 2 are not moving. Just had this problem last week, and a few minutes with the dremel tool fixed it.

My misbehaving starter was a only few months old, btw.

good luck

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

It's not the flywheel. It's not rich/lean. It's not the reeds. It's the starter, either the starter itself or something in the wiring leading up to it. Carb spewing fuel is not good, but it's not causing your slow spin issue.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 57 RDE-19 hard to crank

+1. Fuel out of the carb usually indicates flooding due to a stuck float needle. I would focus on the starter. You should be able to rebuild it and clean/inspect all of the connections. When working properly, your motor will start with the slightest bump from the starter.