1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

[Raschoony]

Yup... it starts itself... here's the lowdown...

I finally had the time to start up the boat after the winter. I knew going into it the motor would fight for this first of the year startup. I had several failed attempts and starting... would just crank and crank...

I was worried of getting the starter to overheat... so I would try to wait some time, be we all know its hard to sit there and not try another time....

So... battery is not juiced up as much and I can tell as the starter can only get on spin in.... I jumper it to my truck....

Starter spins a few roations but wont kick over....

(sorry to all the ones who get mad about starting fluid in the carbs)... but i sprayed fluid in the carbs to get that first run in and get that old crud out..I was getting impatient..

It fired up a sec... but didnt stay up.... Ok were on now... 1 more crank should do it...

NOPE! just cranked and nothin... turned off the key and it keeps cranking... I panicked and turn off the battery disco. I reset the disco and it cranks again... and back to off.. took out the ignition switch and pulled a few wires off at a time... still cranks when battery disco is set to on.
I went to the motor and pulled a big red plug... but just before I unplugged it I heard a click... sounded like it came from some box thing that the starter power cable comes from..
I reseated the big red plug... battery disco to on and nothing.. WOOHOO... go to the ignition and go to crank... NOTHING
UGH...
where do I go from here?

 

[boobie]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Sounds like a bad starter solenoid that stuck and now won't work.

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

That's the piece that the power cable to the starter comes from, correct?

 

[175se]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

correct, the starter cable is one side-the batt. cable is the other,bout 38 bucks.#586180.

 

[boobie]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

You could also try giving it a couple of raps with a screw drive handle once and see what happens.

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Did the "hit with a hammer" dealio... nothing... part #586180 is on order will be here on the 10th... thnx all..

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Boobie has nailed it. I've had really old solenoids stick in the closed positon. My daughter was out skiing once, came and and shut the engine off. (1979 V4) The starter was spinning merrily away- it had been spinning for 45 minutes while she was out. Repl it and it was back to normal. (No apparent damage to the starter.)

 

[boobie]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Keep us posted as to what happens.

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Will do... part should arrive Thurs/Fri.. so depending on weather I'll post...

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Side note I saw the my starter teeth are raised.. bendix or something is that right... oh I cant remember.. anyways its raised and I cant lower it... figured it would go down when I fixed the other issue...

 

[Fed]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

You should be able to push the bendix back down with your fingers or maybe a gentle hit.

While you're waiting for the solenoid put a voltmeter across the 2 small terminals on the old solenoid & hit the key to make sure it's getting power to it.

 

[boobie]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Move the flywheel in its normal rotation once and see what happens.

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

You should be able to push the bendix back down with your fingers or maybe a gentle hit.

While you're waiting for the solenoid put a voltmeter across the 2 small terminals on the old solenoid & hit the key to make sure it's getting power to it.

1. Yea its not going down.. I hit it with that back of a screwdriver... pushed on it hard... nothing..
2. Hmm... I did the big terminal... but i think that is straight from the battery.. the small ones are from the ignition correct? I didn't check the small ones....

 

[Fed]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

One small one will go to ground & the other one comes back from the key switch via the neutral switch to energize the solenoid. That in turn closes the big solenoid contact & supplies power to the starter motor.

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Makes sense... I'll check it out in the mornin

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

One other rather obscure possibility. Bad key switch. If rainwater gets into them and the switch drain hole gets plugged, that can cause the internal contacts to transfer current.

 

[boobie]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

He said he did pull off some wires in his first post, but which ones would be the question??

 

[Raschoony]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Ok, heres the update...
Yesterday:
checked for power at the starter solenoid at the small wire and nothing. Turned the ignition on and nothing... ugh
checked the ignition saw i left the diconnect off... WTF...
hit start and crank like normal... so I think the no crank was maybe after i disco'd the QD for the ignition
!!MY BAD!!
But I still had the auto cranking issue before, so I'm still going to install the starter solenoid when it arrives to prevent the auto start thing again...
Cranked and and wouldn't start
Today:
I jumpered the battery... cranked a few times and got it running

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Sounds like the starter Bendix(?) is sticking out for some reason, could be time to replace or rebuild. I would do rebuild if it continues to stick in the start or out position. New one's (starter and solenoid) are expensive, and you could damage the flywheel too if the Bendix is staying out position after your engine starts.

 

[Fed]

Re: 1990 Evinrude 150 starts itself

Now would be a good time to charge your battery up and clean up all the high current connections.
9, 6, 7, 8, 11 & 10