Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

[Justice22]

I have a 2003 Cobia 194 with a Yamaha 150. I left battery one on by mistake for a an unknown amount of time. After noticing this I turned the battery switch off and the following day charged the battery via on board charger. The next day I lowered the motor with the tilt/trim control (with no problem) so I could run the motor a few minutes. When I attempted to crank the motor it only hummed for a moment (like the battery was dead) without engaging the starter. I then turned the battery switch to both batteries assuming that battery one was bad. This engaged the starter for a split second. I tried a second time and nothing. The Yamaha gauges light up but flicker and I can her a clicking on the motor in sync with the flickering of the gauges. Now the tilt/trim will not work at all. If I attempt to turn the ignition to start the engine the gauges go out as if a battery was dead. I checked both batteries and they are fine and have a full charge. All accessories work including the bright deck lights which do not even dim or flicker when attempting to crank the motor. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[99yam40]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

bad cable or cable connection would be my thoughts.
Volt meter will show where the problem is, need to test under a load

 

[JB]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

#1 suspect: where the battery ground cable bolts to the engine block. Take it off and scrub shiny. While you are at it do all battery cables, + and -.

 

[Justice22]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

Thanks for the info. I have taken all cables off and scrubbed them and the connections with a wire brush. I also disconnected the positive cable which supplies power to the starter and checked it with a voltage meter. It reads over 12 volts. When I connect it back to the starter and turn the ignition key to on position the voltage meter indicates 5-6 and the starter hums. I am guessing all my accessories still work because they are on a different ground cable which I just discovered. My knowledge of electrical systems only consist of knowing the difference between positive and ground.

 

[JB]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

That sounds like a sick starter motor, Justice. Put some good jumper cables. . . battery + to the starter lug and - to the starter mount. If it does the same thing take your starter to an auto starter repair shop. They can rebuild it for a lot less than a replacement starter.

 

[Justice22]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

Thanks JB, I will try that out. I did run a jumper cable from the - battery to the ground on the starter to rule out a bad ground cable or bad ground connection. The problem remained the same. When I turn the ignition on, the gauges come on and sometimes they flicker. If I turn the ignition to "start" the gauges go blank. Could a bad starter affect the gauges this way?

 

[JB]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

Yes. It can draw battery voltage down so low that nothing works when the starter is engaged.

 

[Justice22]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

I just hooked a battery charger in "jump start" mode directly to the starter and nothing happened. Not even the hum that I hear when I turn the key on. Would that suffice for jumper cables? Or should I actually hook up a good battery with jumper cables to check the starter?

 

[99yam40]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

A bad battery, bad cable, or a bad connection could do this also.

Start testing voltage at the battery terminals themselves under load to see if voltage is dropping too much.

If the voltage drops much at the battery terminals it could be the battery is not good
Work your way up the cable at the different connections until you find where the voltage drops.

Cables themselves go bad internally, so keep that in mind

 

[Justice22]

Re: Yamaha 150 wont crank, No trim/tilt

Thanks everyone. I found the problem. It was the cable that runs through the conduit from the transom to motor. I have ordered a new cable online.

 

[CRAPPY FISHER]

momentarily reverse connected battery cables on 150/4 Yamaha. no trim/tilt also. what have I done