no power, won't start

[mwsumner]

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Here's the problem I'm having...Saturday on the lake the wife and I left the marina. We weren't 5 minutes out before I figured out we had a problem. The motor wouldn't come up to speed. It would not turn over 2500 RPM. It usually maxes out at at 4200 RPM. So, I turned out of the channel over to a small island and beached. As soon as I beached, the motor shut off. I cranked it once and revved it a little (~1000 RPM) and then the motor shut off again. I started trying to crank it and it was turning over and then stopped. Now, when I turn the key....nothing. Not even clicking noises like something trying to happen, just nothing.

Any thoughts as to where I should look? I did jump the solenoid and the starter started to turn, but I just bumped it. I didn't know if it would mess something up or not by doing that.

The motor is a 45hp mariner. The year is about 1987. Before the season started, I had the motor checked out and had the carburetor rebuilt. Everything has been running great since then...until this.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: no power, won't start

I did jump the solenoid and the starter started to turn, but I just bumped it. I didn't know if it would mess something up or not by doing that.

You can jump the solenoid long enough to see if the motor turns OK without any risk. If you are uncomfortable using just a wire because of the sparking, you can get a remote starter at any auto parts store. It is basically a hand-held switch with two wires containing alligator clips at the end. It is a handy tool and not very expensive.

 

[mwsumner]

Re: no power, won't start

Thanks. I think I'll go pick one of those up.

I was able to see that the motor turned over ok with my jumper cables, but the sparks did scare me. Do you think a bad solenoid would cause this problem? If so, is replacing one as straightforward as it looks?

 

[JB]

Re: no power, won't start

Don't go buy any parts until you know they are bad.

Go to Engine FAQs and do "Outboard won't start".

I think you have more than one problem, but let's get the engine turning over from the key first.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: no power, won't start

How you "jumped the solenoid" to get the motor to turn over fine would be a good clue to narrow down the possible problem.​

1) If you jumped 12v from the battery to the post on the solenoid that is normally fed from the ignition switch (when key is turned to start) and the motor turned over fine, then I would start with troubleshooting the wiring from the ignition switch and ignition switch.​

2) If you jumped the 12v from the battery to the post that leads to the starter and the motor turned over fine, then I would start troubleshooing the heavy gauge wiring from the battery to the solenoid.​

The following thread also contains a troubleshooting guide that might be helpfull. It is for a different motor but the troubleshooting methods are still applicable.​

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=224094&highlight=starter​