my sea king won't start...help

[MonkeyBoy]

I just bought an old alumacraft boat. 1963. It came with two outboards. Johnson and seaking. both 35hp. The ignition switch was bad when I bought it (broken connections). I bought a new switch and I still cannot get either motor to turn over. I believe that I have all of the wires correctly placed on the switch. The electronic choke works. I just cannot get the motor to turn over. There are no clicks or noises when I turn the switch. Please help. My wife only gave me two weeks to get this boat in the water...I am in week 2....THANKS

 

[JB]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

Do I understand correctly that you have a dual engine installation of a Johnson 35 of unknown vintage and a Sea King 35 of unknown vintage?<br /><br />I would suggest that you get a manual, but I don't know what manual to suggest.<br /><br />Jump your battery directly to the starter solenoids of the engines to prove (or disprove) that they will turn over if you figure out the correct wiring. Then get a voltmeter and trace from the starter switch to the solenoid to find out where your circuit isn't connected correctly.<br /><br />Do you have one switch to start both engines??<br /><br />Unless you know a lot more about what you are doing than you reveal so far, you need some on-site help from someone who does.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

JB, Thanks. I should clarify. No, I am not running to outboards at the same time. I have tried to start each outboard individually. I have 12V at the battery connection on the ignition switch. I also have 12V coming out of the "start" post on the switch. I have 12V going into the selanoid when I turn the key. I can jump from the positive on the battery to the negative on the selanoid and that will turn the motor over. The selanoid is new.

 

[JB]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

Ahhh, thanks, Lucky, that makes more sense now!<br /><br />If your solenoid clicks you have a low resistence "open" in the high current circuit. You need to carefully clean all connections and ensure that the terminals are well connected to the cables. Start at the battery hot terminal, then to the solenoid hot terminal, solenoid output to the starter, negative cable from block to battery.<br /><br />If the solenoid does not click it is probably bad or not solidly mounted enough to "make" the connection to the block.<br /><br />Let us know what you find.

 

[baker88]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

One other thing... One of your cables may be bad. You might want to try testing continuity by removing the cables and using a miltimeter to ensure there are no internal breaks (invisible) in your cables. You could also test your new solenoid by clamping it to a piece of bare metal to ensure a good connection and feed 12v into both sides, thereby completeing the circuit. listen for a click. No click, the solenoid is probably fried. if it clicks, it's probably your cables from the battery + or -, or the ignition switch. you can test your switch with a multimeter also by putting the leads on the common and switchable posts and turning the key. No continuity usually indicates a bad or dirty switch. Good luck with that sea king. I bought a boat with a 5 horse on it that wouldn't run. The uys at the boat shop said the coils were cracked, and it would cost more for the parts than the motor was worth. Hope my endless rambling helps in some small way.

 

[baker88]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

I see in your other thread you got it to work. never mind my previous post. Looks like i was kinda right though... hehe

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

Are you sure the motor has a starter. the key could just be to turn the ignition on....(many old 35hp don't and they are not easy to pull !!)if there is a starter get some jumper cables and jump it to see if it works.

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

My bad i did not read your 2nd post.....

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Re: my sea king won't start...help

Thanks everyone. I shouldn't have had two message strings going at the same time. My Bad. Here is how it all ended up though; UPDATE; I went through and cleaned all of the connections everywhere. I still got nothing when I tried starting with the key. My dad came over and had me swap the two wires on the top of the solenoid and, sure enough, the motor turned over with the key. So, I'll leave it at that and start working on actually getting the outboard to run.<br />Thanks Everyone!!