1988 evinrude wont start

[philiplutz]

a little history i bought the boat from my brother in law he disconnected the motor from the boat and later that year i bought the motor from him along with the repair manual and wiring diagrams. i hooked motor back up controll cables steering and control harness. now here is my problem the positive and negative battery cables if i hook the negative to the ground on the water jacket (housing) and put the positive to the bottom post of the selinoid (like to book shows)i superheat the red wire to the rectifier hot enough to smoke. I checked the fuse and that wasn't blown so it didnt make it past there. If i hook the positive to the top post it just spins the starter but not fast enough to engage. does anyone have any ideas of what is causing this i have disconnected the wiring harness to eliminate an possible switch problem but it still does this. i don't want to put the cable back on the bottom post less i fry something more this time....Help...

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

Look at the large solenoid post where you are supposed to hook the positive cable. There is another red wire there. It should be under another nut. Possibly the eye terminal has moved and is touching a ground. <br />If so, loosen the nut, move it away and retighten. I'm fairly sure you will need a rectifier also. <br />There are other possibilites but let's hope it's just this simple. Must be a 3 cylinder motor.<br />Good luck!

 

[philiplutz]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

correct 3 cyl i will check to see if that was happing tonight and will post tommarrow<br />apprciate the help

 

[12Footer]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

Also, since the engine sat-up for a while, the worm-gear on the starter might be sticking.When the starter spins,it should "ride the worm-shaft up to the flywheel gear. It's not doing that,so grab a can of WD-40,spray it down good,and work it free by hand.<br />When it's freed-up nicely, a couple drops of motor oil will keep it that way.<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline

 

[philiplutz]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

i checked the wires nothing touching the engine was started in feb before i bought it<br />so it hasnt been sitting up for awhile what other possible problem could i have. why would it be shorting out. I know the postive cabel doesnt go to the same post as the lead coming off the starter and when i put it to the post with the two red wires the rectifier gets hot. i am at an loss

 

[12Footer]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

Your solenoid should have 4 terminals on it..<br />2 large,2 small.<br />Either one of the large ones,goes to battery.<br />Other large goes to starter.<br />The other 2 small ones are for the "start" from the ignition switch. One will be "NEG" <br />directly from the battery (or grounded to motor block),the other will go to the ignition switch "START" terminal.<br />Now, other than that, there should be no other connections. And polarity is of no concern (in other words, either small terminal can be swapped over,and either battery or starter LARGE wires can be reversed) with no ill effects. <br />But you mention the wire from the regulator gets hot....disconnect it totaly. I suspect that the regulator is shorted. And normally, it would go to "ignition on" terminal from the ignition switch. But for testing purposes,leave it disconnected for now, lets get the key cranking the engine properly first. It can't hurt the regulator any more than it allready is, and you can "narrow it down" this way.<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline

 

[Paddling]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

I'm not sure from your history, but you may want to check to see if the solenoid is hung in a partially closed position. When corroded, solenoids will often hang open or closed. The internal spring usually rusts into pieces and then causes the moving contacts to hang. If they hang fully closed then you can't disengage them and if they hang partially closed they won't supply proper current to the starter. Most of my past problems with solenoids have been due to parts failure and not wiring.

 

[philiplutz]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

the solinoid was replaced that is what i thought too. the noid does have 4 posts as you describe the top big post has the starter running from it. the 2 middle small posts one has 2 grounds one to noid bracket/block and the other back into the harness the second small one has the switch wire connected to it and the last big bottom post has 2 red wires one with an inline fuse to the wiring harness witch i followed to the stator and the second to the rectifier or regulator.(?) So you think the Rectifier is shorted out and that is what is causing the red wire from the rectifier to overheat thus causing my dilema<br /><br />(the rectifer has three wires that go to the wiring block 2 yellow and one red at the time of the incident that wire was red hot and so was the rectifier)<br /><br />I really appreciate all the help i am only an mechanical man i am not very good at electrical if any one wishes to email me directly i would appreciate it.<br /><br />Philiplutz@yahoo.com<br />lutz.philip@hq.navy.mil

 

[12Footer]

Re: 1988 evinrude wont start

I'll E-mail you later with a diagram that may or may not be similar to your setup.<br />But just got called-into work,so it'll be later tonight or tommrw aftanoon...Heck, I JUST LEFT THAT PLACE!

<br /> Except E-mail From seanzaw@aol.com<br /> later<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline