KathyD19
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2012
- Messages
- 352
Hi everyone. I started on here in 2012 restoring a vintage boat and engine. I finished it but after a couple years of being too busy to use it, I have decided to gift it to a wonderful family with three kids who practically live on lake water and sunshine. I was getting it all ready to give to them this weekend but hit a glitch and I need your help please. It's a 30 hp 1956 Johnson Javelin, electric start, remote controls. I went to barrel test it and after charging the battery for a full day (after it sat for a year), it just wasn't holding a charge. I tried to start it and the motor head jiggled a bit then stopped, it never turned over but it DID try. I wheeled it into the garage for the night with plans to buy a new battery today. The only thing after the failed attempted start I did to it was to replace the carb needles, the muffler and the face plate because I'd had them off to rebuild the carb last Fall and hadn't replaced them afterwards (although I covered everything up so nothing could get in. This morning I bought a new battery, installed 2 new spark plugs and put in fresh gas. Went to start it and nothing happened. Not a click, not a sound, not a shudder. Zilch. I took the battery back to the store to have them test it and it's perfectly fine, fully charged. They gave me another just in case. Took that home and exact same scenario. I traced every single wire I'd done in previous repairs (I moved the ignition button to the front vs how it was set up when I first got it (a solenoid with a button underneath at the rear of the boat) I did that change several years ago and it's worked great so that's not new. I just wanted to be sure no wires had somehow come undone and I found none. I checked the starter and it's flywheel was in the up position, although not stuck, partially engaged probably from the too weak attempt to start with the old battery. I spun it back down but that didn't help. It's almost like there's a kill-switch activated or a fuse blown with this total loss of electricity to start the motor. I really, really wanted to give the boat to this family for the holiday weekend. They are so very excited about it, but I must be sure it's in good working order before I do that. I've given up for the night and will start in the morning but I have no idea what new to check. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm sorry for the long post.
You guys all got me this far. It's wonderful to see all of your names again
