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    Boat not starting

    Ok guys whenever I bought my boat a couple of months ago I had to put a new starter on it. The boat has been starting and running great ever since.....UNTIL NOW!! Now whenever i turn the key half way, I hear the fuel pump come on and all the gages give me a read out and then when I turn the key the rest of the way to turn the engine over all I get is a click. I turn the key off and back on several several several times and with some lucky turn the boat cranks right up. Whenever it tries to turn over it cranks right up no problem, it is just a matter of getting it to try. Any ideas I am getting tired of running the boat the entire time I am on the water to make sure I am not stranded on the lake.


    Thanks

    #2
    Originally posted by taffmaster View Post
    Ok guys whenever I bought my boat a couple of months ago I had to put a new starter on it. The boat has been starting and running great ever since.....UNTIL NOW!! Now whenever i turn the key half way, I hear the fuel pump come on and all the gages give me a read out and then when I turn the key the rest of the way to turn the engine over all I get is a click. I turn the key off and back on several several several times and with some lucky turn the boat cranks right up. Whenever it tries to turn over it cranks right up no problem, it is just a matter of getting it to try. Any ideas I am getting tired of running the boat the entire time I am on the water to make sure I am not stranded on the lake.


    Thanks
    Well I have had the same issue and what I found was the key assembly is turning in the hole on the dash. first reach under and hold it while you turn it and see if that fixes it. I am sure it will. If that is the case then tighten it.

    Just my
    15 Escalade ESV-Black
    08 RZ2-Blue

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      #3
      It might be a bad ignition switch. Make sure it's on there tight. There's a backing nut. I'd also check the battery. Boat batteries don't last very long. It could be that you have a slow electrical leak somewhere that's draining your battery.
      Cursed by a fortune cookie: "Your principles mean more to you than any money or success."

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        #4
        My neighbor's Donzi did that and we had to nail the starter with a hammer or something like that to "free it up" (for lack of a better term.) Total PITA, but it worked.
        Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

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          #5
          have to agree with dogbert and check battery, and all connections to battery and starter, it could also be a faulty starter solenoid?

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            #6
            Originally posted by taffmaster View Post
            Ok guys whenever I bought my boat a couple of months ago I had to put a new starter on it. The boat has been starting and running great ever since.....UNTIL NOW!! Now whenever i turn the key half way, I hear the fuel pump come on and all the gages give me a read out and then when I turn the key the rest of the way to turn the engine over all I get is a click. I turn the key off and back on several several several times and with some lucky turn the boat cranks right up. Whenever it tries to turn over it cranks right up no problem, it is just a matter of getting it to try. Any ideas I am getting tired of running the boat the entire time I am on the water to make sure I am not stranded on the lake.


            Thanks
            Sounds to me like a starter issue (exact same symptoms on my Tacoma last year). The fact that you just replaced in baffles me, did you rebuild the stock one or put a replacement in? Is there any difference between an auto and marine starter? (I don't know) Maybe the one you put in was defective or less quality......

            If it clicks multiple times, then its a weak battery. But just one click makes me 99% sure its the starter. If it doesn't start, take a mallet and tap the side of the starter. Then try it again, it should start up. This would be a temp fix for out on the lake.
            Last edited by Joeprunc; 07-07-2009, 10:04 PM.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Joeprunc View Post
              If it doesn't start, take a mallet and tap the side of the starter. Then try it again, it should start up. This would be a temp fix for out on the lake.
              Sounds good. if you happen to have a mallet out on the lake

              I guess I need a better boating tool box ...

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                #8
                check for good connection between the starter solenoid mounted right next to the distributor cap if its like mine and the starter. loosen both these cable ends and re tighten. also, the solenoid itself could be heading south as mine did. sometimes it worked normally and ocasionally ,,nothing when i turned the key. it was the solinoid. luck to ya

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                  #9
                  If you replaced the starter you should have made sure it is a marine starter. Auto and Marine are different in the grounding. Marine starters are grounded internally to prevent a big explosion if you have fuel vapors in the engine compartment. All rotating electrical on boats is this way.

                  Now for my failure thoughts why did the new one fail.

                  1. When you replaced the old with the new were their any shims on the old starter. If so the new one may have needed to be shimmed differently and if not the new one may have needed to be shimmed especially if it was a rebuilt unit.

                  If it is not shimmed correctly it will over work your started causing premature failure from the starter working with the fly wheel in a bind.

                  2. If it was a rebuilt then it could have been done cheap or incorrectly.

                  3. If it sat over winter it is possible that corrosion got into the new starter especially again if it was a rebuilt and they did not spray protective coatings on all the parts internally.

                  Just my thoughts on this. None of it may be right but something to look at.
                  www.automarinecare.com CWB, ACME, FlyHigh, Merc Marine, PCM, Marine-power, WETSOUNDS, HSE Volume Controls, Kicker, Sony, Samson Sports, and many other marine parts or accessory's.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by samw View Post
                    Well I have had the same issue and what I found was the key assembly is turning in the hole on the dash. first reach under and hold it while you turn it and see if that fixes it. I am sure it will. If that is the case then tighten it.

                    Just my
                    +2 Make sure that dang thing is tight. Mine would only turn enough not to let it start. I couldn't figure it out until I was giving up and just got lucky enough to realize that when I pulled the key out, it didn't go back all the to the left? Ding Ding! Good thing I wasn't drinking that day, no telling how long it would have taken me to figure it out.

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                      #11
                      hey guys it was the starter solenoid. I had someone turn the key while i was back in the engine and I could here and feel the solenoid clicking. I put a new one on and it is starting up every time i touch the key. Thanks for all the input..... I LOVE THIS SITE!!

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