Went to the lake the other day and when I went to start the motor, it only cranked once or twice, sounded like a dead battery. Went to the local auto parts store, got a brand new deep cycle marine battery (group size 27), and motor did same thing with a brand new battery. I have a separate battery for the trolling motor and a separate battery for the outboard. I had charged both batteries with the onboard battery charger (new Minnkota). In any event, it was not a bad battery. I tried to see if it would turn over with the pull rope, it turned but very tight!
I talked to a boat mechanic and he thought the piston had seized. Went took out the spark plugs to reduce the compression and see if the pistons were ok. They seemed fine, the flywheel turned ok, pistons worked ok. It seemed like there was a squeak in the lower unit.
Dropped the lower unit, put in the spark plugs and tested the motor, turned over just fine, just like it is supposed to (I didn't start the motor, just turned it over). So it seems like the ignition system, pistons etc are all fine, the battery is ok (charged).
My next troubleshooting step is to see about the squeak in the drive shaft. It seems like it may be coming from the rubber washer on the drive shaft that sits tight above the water pump housing.
At this point, I am thinking the water pump impeller is tight, or the gears in the lower unit may be engaged when I try to start the motor, putting extra load on the motor at startup. It is possible that I may have left the motor in gear after I drove it up on the trailer last time I had it out, but it should have been back in neutral when I adjusted the throttle handle.
Has anyone else had a similar problem and how did you fix it?
I talked to a boat mechanic and he thought the piston had seized. Went took out the spark plugs to reduce the compression and see if the pistons were ok. They seemed fine, the flywheel turned ok, pistons worked ok. It seemed like there was a squeak in the lower unit.
Dropped the lower unit, put in the spark plugs and tested the motor, turned over just fine, just like it is supposed to (I didn't start the motor, just turned it over). So it seems like the ignition system, pistons etc are all fine, the battery is ok (charged).
My next troubleshooting step is to see about the squeak in the drive shaft. It seems like it may be coming from the rubber washer on the drive shaft that sits tight above the water pump housing.
At this point, I am thinking the water pump impeller is tight, or the gears in the lower unit may be engaged when I try to start the motor, putting extra load on the motor at startup. It is possible that I may have left the motor in gear after I drove it up on the trailer last time I had it out, but it should have been back in neutral when I adjusted the throttle handle.
Has anyone else had a similar problem and how did you fix it?
