Bad Starter or Something More Serious

[saltwaterbluefish]

1977 115 HP Johnson 115EL77S

As I was coming back from my favorite fishing spot, I decided to stop momentarily to check out another fishing hole. Was there about 15 minutes and when I went to crank up, nothing. The only noise was from me pushing the choke in on the switch. After pulling the cover, the engine and starter were a lot hotter than normal. After limping back almost to the dock. I was able to get her to crank and limped in the rest of the way. However, while waiting to get her on the trailer, she cut off again. After finally getting it out of the water, I started diagnosing the problem. When I pulled the hot wire off the starter, i noticed the entire pole on the starter wiggled. Problem #1. After doing some more checking, I also found that the solenoid went bad. Problem #2.

My question is, could it be the loose starter pole that caused the motor to get hot or could it be a larger issue that is starting to develop? Will a bad solenoid cause it to crank when cold and cut off when hot?

I installed a tale-tale on her 2 years ago (Thanks iboats for the DIY) and she is peeing good, so it does not appear to be a water pump issue and compression is running around 90 psi on all 4 cylinders. RPMs are around 1200 at idle and no jumps or sneezes. Just being cautious as I don't want to have to limp back, especially on days when there is no wind, current going in the opposite direction and the temp is in the upper 90s. Of course having i-pilot is a lot better than a foot control when you have to limp back.

 

[interalian]

A loose positive connection on the starter will cause high resistance under load (when you're trying to start the engine), so yes, it could be part of your problem.

Test by putting your voltmeter lead on the battery + terminal and on the connection on the starter. Anything more than a quarter volt or so indicates too much resistance in the circuit. Check all connections are bright and tight.

 

[BrettNC]

The starter isn't what is causing your motor to stall out. Sounds like you have multiple problems going on.

 

[interalian]

15 minutes of hot soak after a run and your underhood temps will be high - pretty normal. Need to know what you mean by 'crank' - for me, that means you're turning the key and the starter is spinning the motor. I assume by 'limping in', the engine was running in both cases? And it stalled out while you were waiting at the launch?

 

[saltwaterbluefish]

The engine was running when it stalled out. I was in idle. The first time when it did not crank/start, there was nothing. Almost as if I had no battery connected (with the exception of the choke plates clicking). After about 40 minutes running the trolling motor, that is when I was able to crank and start the motor back up. When I pulled into the dock and put her in idle she cut off about 5 minutes later and then nothing again. Starter did not engage, anything. However, when I got home was able to start her right up and flush the motor.

The + cable coming from the battery goes directly to the bottom of the solenoid, so I am thinking if the solenoid went bad due to the heat that would cause the motor to cut off.

I appreciate all the responses. This site is a life saver.

 

[interalian]

Sounds like either a heat-soaked starter or solenoid. You can determine which by jumping from the battery + connection on the solenoid to the starter lug next time it happens. If it cranks the solenoid has failed. If it doesn't, the starter has failed. Of course, check for 12V on the small terminal on the solenoid first. And make sure all the cable connections are bright and tight.

 

[BrettNC]

With this type of ignition, the engine, usually, will continue to run even if the battery is disconnected. The solenoid electrically engages only the starter, and nothing else. Sounds like you have a bad solenoid, starter, or connection. Bad ignition key switches can cause all of these problems as well as the engine stalling.