1986 Johnson 70hp Outboard Not Starting

[Johnson70hpoutboard]

After running well on the water all day the RPMs started to flutter down a bit. I shook the gas tank and it sounded pretty low so I killed the engine and switched to the auxiliary one. Then the engine wouldn’t restart. It wouldn’t turn over at all or make a sound when the key was turned. (Definitely had the kill switch in place, definitely had it in neutral). The boat has an electric trim tilt system which was still working and the lights were still working so I was thinking the battery is likely okay. I will check the voltage of the battery and the voltage across the starter solenoid because it sounds like that is the most likely culprit but I’m wondering why the engine started to die in the first place because the gas really didn’t end up being THAT low. I was able to pull start it and run it for a few more minutes until the engine started to die again and then shut off. Does anyone know what this might be? I’d really appreciate any and all input/advice.

 

[gm280]

First things first. Welcome to iboats. We always like new members...

Now for the engine issues. When you swapped over to another tank, did you reprime the fuel line to the engine via the squeeze primer bulb? And am I taking it that you are not getting the starter to turn and run? If that is the reason, then you could have a bad connection from the battery to the engine. Start with the battery terminals. Remove them and CLEAN them to bright shiny metal. Electrical connections can look good, but electrically they are not making a great connection. And it never seems to fail, most of the time the ground terminal to the engine is a typical place to find such problems. So you HAVE to clean every connection before doing anything else. And also check the condition of the battery itself. If there is a suspect battery connection, the battery could need a serious charging as well. Let us know about those things. There are other issues we can offer...

 

[Johnson70hpoutboard]

First things first. Welcome to iboats. We always like new members...

Now for the engine issues. When you swapped over to another tank, did you reprime the fuel line to the engine via the squeeze primer bulb? And am I taking it that you are not getting the starter to turn and run? If that is the reason, then you could have a bad connection from the battery to the engine. Start with the battery terminals. Remove them and CLEAN them to bright shiny metal. Electrical connections can look good, but electrically they are not making a great connection. And it never seems to fail, most of the time the ground terminal to the engine is a typical place to find such problems. So you HAVE to clean every connection before doing anything else. And also check the condition of the battery itself. If there is a suspect battery connection, the battery could need a serious charging as well. Let us know about those things. There are other issues we can

 

[Johnson70hpoutboard]

I did squeeze the primer bulb unfortunately. I tested the battery and it’s reading 13 V. I also bypassed the solenoid and the starter seemed to work. Do you think that means the solenoid is bad or could it still be a grounding issue? I haven’t started troubleshooting that yet. Also thanks for the help!!