Searay won't crank when it's hot

[mthomasff]

A friend has an 89 Searay with a 3.0. I had to tow him in yesterday after his wouldn't crank back. It ran fine all day, then wouldn't crank after a good running. Later after it cooled off, it cranked fine. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[TxRiverRat]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Maybe he should trade it in for a shiny new Bayliner... <br /><br />(Evil Grin)

 

[EVMIII]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Take this for what its worth from an outboard user, there is probably a heat sensor in there somewhere that shuts the system down, a sticking thermostat, or similar problem. Did the engine over heat?

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Does it attempt to crank?<br />Does it crank slowly?<br />Does it even click?

 

[Anchor Man]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Trade for a Bayliner? Then he'd have the same engine with an inferior hull. LOL!!!<br /><br />Hey TxRR, looks like you've owned two great boats. Was the Sea Ray first or the Mastercraft? Just curious, was lookin at both of them when I bought my Sea Ray.

 

[TxRiverRat]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Hey AnchorMan,<br /><br />The Sea Ray was my dad's boat, and when he finally decided it wasn't worth the trouble, he gave it to me. It was an 1982 model SR192 with the 470 4cyl with 170 HP. Once I got the crap cleaned off the bottom and replaced the prop, she went from a sluggish top speed of 29 to a respectable 40. <br /><br />When I got really serious about my waterskiing in 1998, I sold the SR, and decided on this CHERRY 1993 MasterCraft Prostar 205 - 113 hours on it. It's got the Indmar 351 and 285 horse. I could yank your arms out of their sockets with it! her name is the same as my screen name here...<br /><br />The don't make open walk-through bowed tournament boats like the Texas River Rat anymore. <br /><br />Adios<br /><br />Mark

 

[oldboat1]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

I had a similar problem with a 305 Chevy in my old Chris Craft. The first step is to make absolutely sure all wiring connections, particularly in the starter circuit are absolutely clean and tight, and insure the battery is fully charged. Then tell your friend to check the timing, and reset it according to specs if necessary. Reset the dwell/readjust points as well, if it's not electronic ignition. It also may be time for a starter rebuild. If your friend doesn't do this work himself, he should probably bring the boat in for a minor tuneup (if there is such a thing in a boatshop), and specify that he also wants the starter checked to see if it's drawing too heavily.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[mthomasff]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Thanks for all the input. After riding for a while, we cut it off then it wouldn't crank back. It wouldn't do anything(no clicking). After we loaded it and got it home, it cranked back. It would crank intermitedly after that.

 

[barterj]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

I have a 1993 Sea Ray 170 that would do the same thing last year. I am going to check the ignition switch, wiring, and starter this year. I don't think it is a battery problem because it would eventually start no problem. I am not so sure it is a starter problem because it wouldn't even click at all. I am suspicious of the wiring and switch.

 

[MGuckin]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

GM's, whether marine or automotive have always had a problem with the starter armature swelling when it is worn and hot. Will work fine once it has cooled off. Try to hot wire the starter like you would a car, if it starts, change the selonoid, if it doesn't, try jumping the starter with jumper cables and bypass the selonoid if you have the room.

 

[MGuckin]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

yup I noticed I didn't spell right but oh well

 

[Hi&Dri]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Hi mthomasff, <br /><br />Let me throw this into the pot: you could have a flaky battery there. I've seen some strange temperature and mechanical internal battery things over the years, to wit:<br /><br />Years ago, new 1965 Yamaha bike. The battery read, with switch off, normal voltage. Turn ignition on, 0 volts. No arcs or sparks, smoking wires, etc. One of the cells had maybe 1 square mm of working plate or a broken internal connection.<br /><br />My old Fiat Spyder. Drove it for a year with no symptoms. Came home, parked it in the driveway. Went out a few hours later to put it in the garage and... NOTHING! Something opened up inside the battery.<br /><br />We had a large UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for our computers at work. It had about 12 12 volt batteries that ran an inverter that would come on line during a power problem. One day we came into work and it was beeping it's heart out. The message was no battery voltage. As we started to place service calls and the building warmed up (10 degrees), it started up and came online. It did this for several days until the new battery was installed. It opened up internally when the temperature was below 68 degrees.<br /><br />Last one is my car battery. Last fall I went out to go somewhere, and all I got was rrrr, click, click. It even lost the radio presets. Thinking that it was just fine the day before and I must have left something on, I hooked up the charger (6A), and based on experience I came back 3 hours later, figuring on a limp but useable battery. It cranked like a new battery. Hmmm.<br /><br />Over the next few weeks, I found that If I left the car unused for more than 2 days and it was below 45 degrees. it wouldn't start. BUT, I also found out that all I had to do was charge it for 30 minutes to bring it back to new battery status. Verdict, another thermal/mechanical internal open. A new batttery fixed it, BTW.<br /><br />Just like spark plugs bad out of the box (and I've seen at least one of those), you can't rely on your battery as a "given". Just add it to your lists of suspects. Long post, but, hopefully, useful info. Good luck there! Mike

 

[DJ]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Schematic is asking the right questions. You say, won't crank. What do you mean? Won't turn over, or won't start?

 

[ODDD1]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

Yep...specifics always help get the wheels turnin..

 

[mthomasff]

Re: Searay won't crank when it's hot

LIKE I SAID EARLIER, IT WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING(NO CLICKING OR NOTHING) ALMOST LIKE THE BATTERY WAS DEAD, BUT AFTER A WHILE IT CRANKED FINE. THEN AFTER IT RAN A WHILE AND WAS SHUT DOWN, IT DID THE SAME THING ON RESTART, NOTHING.