1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble

[borderboat]

I've recently purchased a boat with a '93 Mariner 115 attached to it. I spent the past week up north in a rental cabin with the boat and it began having some starting troubles the last 3 days up there & I wound up rope starting it for the rest of our vacation. Just some background, the battery is new & was fully charged and connections where cleaned of any corrosion. My fish finder said it had 12.5 volts, and I checked it with a voltmeter when we got back and got the same reading. The starter drive will spin & go up, but will not engage the ring gear thus does not turn over the engine. If I turn the drive gear up by hand until it is in contact with the ring gear & then crank it over with the key it will turn the engine over, but very slowly. So slow that it would not actually fire up. I am in process of cleaning all the connections to the starter and will see what that yields. If that doesn't do it, should I look into rebuilding or replacing the starter?

Next, my regular starting procedure is to open tank vent, prime the bulb, lift idle lever to half, turn key to on, actuate enrichener system for 8 seconds & then turn it over. When the starter was working, sometimes this procedure wouldn't work anyways. I would have to go back and prime the bulb, and try again, but the bulb would never really get stiff. I took off the front cover and tried priming and watching the carb throats & #3 carb shoots gas out the vent tube in the throat. I suspect that the needle is not seating or the float is stuck down. Can I pull apart the carb to inspect & if it all checks out, put it back together with the old gaskets? I've put in new plugs, its got a new tank fuel line & primer bulb, fuel disconnect, main fuel line (molded), oiler check valve & filter. The screens inside the tank are clean & the tanks are free of debris. I am looking into rebuilding the fuel pump & carbs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dave1027]

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble

Try bypassing the starter solenoid by connecting the battery directly to the starter. If it engages and turns the motor properly then it's a bad connection or bad solenoid, otherwise I would suspect the starter.

I start mine by squeezing primer bulb till hard, give a small amount of throttle in neutral then push in key and turn to start in one motion. I hold it in till it starts which it does within one second.

If the primer never gets hard and you are seeing fuel squirting into the throats then I'd suspect bad or incorrectly set carb floats. Get some carb kits and replace the needle valve and floats. It's very critical that they be set exactly.

 

[borderboat]

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble

I will try bypassing the solenoid, I cleaned all electrical connection to & from the starter with no change. Still just spins the drive but does not engage. Where would you recommend getting the carb kits from? My local dealer wants $50 a kit per carb. Thanks!

 

[borderboat]

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble (1/2 solved)

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble (1/2 solved)

I found that the problem with the starter drive not engaging the ring gear is that one of the wires leading to a brush in the bottom of starter was broken off and all the brushes were stuck down and gummed up with a bunch of old brush dust. The face the brushes are supposed to make contact was also very gummy. Thus the starter would not have enough "kick" to push the drive into the ring gear. I just fashioned a new temporary brush out of one from a small block chevy alternator kit (they send different ones in rebuild kits) by grinding it down with a dremel tool & grinding blade. Then I cleaned off all the grime with some scotch-brite, brake clean & a blow gun. I've ordered a rebuild kit & will fix it properly. That starter has never turned that motor over that fast & has helped with getting the motor started up in general.

Should I pull the carbs off, take the bowls off to see if the float is set right & check the needle & seat and put it back together with the old gasket if all checks out? If I don't have to pay for 4 gasket sets just to check it out that would be great, but if not then that's ok.

 

[Big Pete]

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble (1/2 solved)

Re: 1993 Mariner 115 starting & misc trouble (1/2 solved)

I found that the problem with the starter drive not engaging the ring gear is that one of the wires leading to a brush in the bottom of starter was broken off and all the brushes were stuck down and gummed up with a bunch of old brush dust. The face the brushes are supposed to make contact was also very gummy. Thus the starter would not have enough "kick" to push the drive into the ring gear. I just fashioned a new temporary brush out of one from a small block chevy alternator kit (they send different ones in rebuild kits) by grinding it down with a dremel tool & grinding blade. Then I cleaned off all the grime with some scotch-brite, brake clean & a blow gun. I've ordered a rebuild kit & will fix it properly. That starter has never turned that motor over that fast & has helped with getting the motor started up in general.

Should I pull the carbs off, take the bowls off to see if the float is set right & check the needle & seat and put it back together with the old gasket if all checks out? If I don't have to pay for 4 gasket sets just to check it out that would be great, but if not then that's ok.

I re used my gaskets with no problems ..just be careful not to damage them as you dismantle, should be fine then ..