Motor won't Crank Over ? (First Time Boat Owner)

[samsonrollins]

We bought a 2001 Tige 23v in Feb and took it out for the first time last night. Go it in the water and could not get it to crank over.

Installed a new battery 2 weeks ago. Radio & blower will work fine, but when I turn key to the start position - there is a very quite click that comes from a relay(?) near the RED reset breaker on the top of the motor, but the motor wont crank at all.

I played with the remote/shifer with no change.

Oh yeah (it hurts to admit this..), when we backed into the water we forgot to put the plug in so water began to come into the engine compartment - probably got to abot 6 inches high before we realized and pulled it out of the water and drained it.

Any ideas of what do try to diagnose the issue? Could there be a water sensor in the engine compartment that would kill the power when we flooded it?

Thanks,

Samson

[TeamAllen]

Welcome to the site!
My first guess is that water got to the the starter motor and got damaged. The starter motor sits so low on the motor and close to the bilge.
Have you tested to see if you are getting proper voltage at the starter motor itself?

[chpthril]

Has this boat run for you at all, or did you buy it as is no sea trial? The click you hear is probably the starter relay, but could also be fuel pump relay. Click indicates its mechanically good, but the contacts could be toast. Also could be the solenoid, starter, key switch or natural safety switch on the trans. Time to get out the volt meter and back track from the starter to the source.

[dom w. forte]

If its a Mercruiser there is a small solenoid on top that you can jump battery power to aprox, 10 guage yellow with red stripe wire and see if starter will crank, the smaller yellow with red stripe wire on same solenoid is from key switch , the click is probably this solenoid.

[samsonrollins]

Yes, we test drove the boat in Arkansas back in Feb. It started and ran great. Then had it winterized and towed to Utah and stored it. About 2 weeks ago I removed both batteries, charged 1 and replace 1 then reinstalled both.

I will try to test to see if we get power to the starter. The click is pretty faint and coming from the RED reset button on the motor not the starter solenoid.

Thanks

Has this boat run for you at all, or did you buy it as is no sea trial? The click you hear is probably the starter relay, but could also be fuel pump relay. Click indicates its mechanically good, but the contacts could be toast. Also could be the solenoid, starter, key switch or natural safety switch on the trans. Time to get out the volt meter and back track from the starter to the source.

[boatwakes]

Hey Sam, there's a really stupid fuse on the mercruiser starter, we've had to replace/remove a bunch recently after customers have done their own battery replacements. However, in order to determine if it's the cause of your problem you need to do some tests first.
1) When you turn the key to the on position does the fuel pump cycle for approx 1-2 seconds then shut off?
2) When you turn the key to the on position do you get power to the dash (i.e. does the volt gauge come up, temp gauge bounce, oil pressure bounce?)
If you answered no to both questions, the fuse is the problem. It is located directly where the battery cable connects to the start solenoid and looks like a small white square about 1/2" cube. Merc part number 88-70923A91. To replace you must turn off your battery switch or remove the negative cables from both batteries first. I've just removed the fuse in the past and reconnected the battery cable to get them going but that's up to you as the fuse is a safety item. Good luck.

[samsonrollins]

Ok, Problem Fixed.

So, when I hooked up the two batteries one of the ground cables (that goes to the starter) fell down below and I could not see it so I didn't get it hooked up. I assumed the 4 ground leads were all of them, but nope. Once I hooked up that lead the boat fire right up. Thank goodness it was just that.

Thanks for everyone's help and responses! I am excited to take the boat out now and actually get to use it. I'm going to put a LARGE sign on the steering wheel that says "PUT THE PLUG IN!".



Samson