What did I do? (Starting/Starter Issue)

[okiepilgrim]

At the end of the day yesterday after a full day on the lake, my 2006 22Ve wouldn't start. Power to all the gauges, "startup" beep, but would not crank and not even a clicking. Just dead. (could hear the fuel pump running though) Checked the kill switch, tried a few things, but then just had someone tow us in.
Today, I went troubleshooting (to the extent I'm capable). I'm not a mechanic, somewhat handy, but have been known to Eff things up as well. I generally google, YouTube and then give 'er a shot.
So, I checked the engine battery and it was 12.5 Volts. Not full, but not terrible. Then checked at the starter end of the cable. Basically the same so assume power getting to the starer solenoid.
Then I wanted to test that the neutral safety, which after a YouTube (car) video, it appeared I could do by measuring voltage while someone was turning the key with the "solenoid wire". So, in this case, I took the 2 wires (battery lead and I assume the starter relay lead), put them together (off of the starter) and then measured positive there and negative on the battery. Went to zero when cranking, so I thought, okay maybe it could be the neutral safety. But now, I get no power at all at the dash/gauges. So I'm guessing maybe I blew a fuse or fried the relay?

Additional info: there are times when it seems like the engine takes a few to turn over, so perhaps that was an indication of the starter beginning to fail? But the boat is new to me, so for me that was just "normal" for this older boat.

Thanks for any help/input.

[okiepilgrim]

Also appreciate if someone can point me to where I can find the Neutral Safety Switch.

[okiepilgrim]

Nevermind on the NSS. Found a post by Boatwakes that explains where I can find that.

[okiepilgrim]

Okay, so this morning I went out to take a fresh look and it seems that "resting" it allowed whatever "breaker" (or other protection mechanism?) to reset because I once again had power to the dash, startup warning beep, fuel pump began priming, etc. However, when I tried to crank it, it basically went dead again.
I did hear a fairly loud click, which my best guess is maybe the starter extending, but not being able to turn?
Plan on pulling the starter off here in a bit and taking up to the parts store to be tested (think it would take me too long to test that myself when they'll do it free).

[BrentP]

Honestly man, sounds like you have bad batteries.


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[BrentP]

Or a bad connection

Yah. To me the “waiting” and it kind of works again suggests battery has a bad cell- when you pull amps through it it can’t hold and power the ignition. I’d probably start there. Easy hundred bucks and if your wrong you probably needed to replace it anyways


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[okiepilgrim]

Also found my neutral safety switch right where Boatwakes said on the side of the transmission. Can I just connect those 2 wires together to bypass that for testing?
neutral-safety-switch-2006-22ve.jpg

[okiepilgrim]

Hmm, okay, worth checking. On the water I tried swapping over to the house battery with no luck, but then again, we had been parked listening to the radio for a few hours, so those were definitely lower than the engine battery.

[okiepilgrim]

So many variables... Okay, so pulled both batteries and the starter and took everything up to get tested. Both batteries tested good. The starter did not. BUT, when I got back home since I had the batteries and starter pulled anyway, I went ahead and bench tested it myself just to confirm (and to show the wife how impressive I am). The damn thing shot right out and spun. Okaaay. Well, I did notice that it must have rolled a bit in the bed of the truck on the way home because it was in the middle instead of the side where I'd put it. So now I'm thinking that this rolling must have knocked it loose (tap it with a hammer, right?). So I throw it back on and hook everything back up and she fires right up.
So, now the variables. While I had everything out/apart I went ahead and cleaned up pretty much every connection I could find.I also charged up the batteries and made sure all my connections were tight. I had done a bit of a half-*** job on this after swapping on the water (and then swapping back).

My gut still tells me that it's the starter and it's going bad, even if I've bought some time, but at this point it's hard to say. I'm tempted to run it back up and have it tested again to see if it spins there now (or if they just like to sell a lot of starters).

Anyone else have thoughts? Would the occasional "hard starts" be an indication that the starter is beginning to fail or is that just because it's an '06?

Happy I'm back in business, but want to run/test it some more and don't want to wind up in the same spot a few weeks from now.

[boatwakes]

The starter has a dead spot in the windings. It'll fail again if you don't replace it but whacking it with a hammer will get you one or two more starts. Do not buy the cheap *** Chinese starters for sale all over the internet. The nose gears are held in place with circlips that fail and shoot the gear off. OEM mercruiser, PCM or Volvo only so you have peace of mind.

[xpjim1]

I went through the same. I ended up replacing starter, neutral safety and starter relay. Boatwakes saved me on the lake. Works like normal again.

[okiepilgrim]

Thanks. Just ordered the exact same OEM ARCO replacement.

[okiepilgrim]

As a follow up, is it normal for that starter (and the flywheel as well) to be a little rusty? Would that lead to an early demise on the starter? Fine to spray a little WD-40 (or something better) in there?

starter.jpg

[boatwakes]

Some rust is normal but the amount I see on your unit generally means the flywheel has seen some water. If its fresh water then no biggie, saltwater is another story.