Several key turns to get 3.0 TKS to turn over from cold

[blued]

Hi all,

I have a 2006 Stingray 185 LS with a Merc 3.0 TKS. I bought the boat in April 2015 and used it every other weekend until late 2015 without any issues. The weather was not so kind in 2016 so usage dropped down to less than once a month. Everything was fine up until I took it for a run in December, I turned the key and nothing happened, not a click.

I first assumed completely dead battery but had just lifted the stern drive and it went up quickly as per normal. I tried the key again and nothing, then on the 3rd attempt the engine turned over as normal and fired up. It started as normal first turn all day long. I had the same issue when I took it out about 3 weeks ago. Yesterday it took about 10 turns of getting completely nothing before it fired up as normal so the issue is getting worse.

I thought maybe a faulty ignition switch, but if this was the case it wouldn't only happen on the first start of the day? Has anyone had a similar issue? The 3.0 TKS manual doesn't have anything under troubleshooting for these symptoms. Could it be the TKS system itself?

 

[GA_Boater]

Since the boat has been sitting, clean all the connections on the battery and all the grounds and positive leads from the battery to the starter and solenoid.

 

[blued]

Thanks for your reply, I did a visual inspection yesterday and all looked good, the battery terminals are greased and the engine gets a good coat of WD40 after each run. I'm going to service it at the weekend though so will remove all connections, clean where required and grease.

However wouldn't the problem be intermittent throughout the day if there was a bad connection?

 

[Bt Doctur]

When you turn the key do the gauges come alive?
Yes= neutral safety switch, slave solenoid
No= main power fuse/breaker/relay, poor battery connections at the battery/ starter positive/ engine block negative

 

[blued]

When you turn the key do the gauges come alive?
Yes= neutral safety switch, slave solenoid
No= main power fuse/breaker/relay, poor battery connections at the battery/ starter positive/ engine block negative

I think the gauges come alive, I can remember the warning buzzer sounding and pretty sure the depth gauge came on.

I'll check connections to both when I'm over tomorrow night, the slave solenoid sits by the plugs doesn't it?

 

[alldodge]

the slave solenoid sits by the plugs doesn't it?

Mounted on the motor and looks like this

 

[Silvertip]

Low current draw items like instruments may work fine with a marginal battery connection. High draw items like the engine starter do not like high resistance connections. LOOKING at connections is not CHECKING them. Disconnect, make them shiny clean and bright, and reconnect. That means both ends of the cables. Cleaning one end does no good if the other end is bad.

 

[wrench 3]

The late Don S left some good information in a sticky on testing starter systems. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...hooting-your-engines-starting-system?t=167035 It's always a bit of fun with intermittent problems. You get to check a couple of things and then it starts working and you have to wait till it acts up again.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Clean all the cable connections. By clean, I mean shiney metal, can eat off it clean

When your done and everything is working, seal the connections with marine elecrical varnish

 

[blued]

The late Don S left some good information in a sticky on testing starter systems. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...hooting-your-engines-starting-system?t=167035 It's always a bit of fun with intermittent problems. You get to check a couple of things and then it starts working and you have to wait till it acts up again.

I went to the boat yard armed with this great guide and my multimeter last night and... it turned over on the first try

I'll remove and clean up all terminals when I service it over the weekend and see how it goes from there.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[wrench 3]

I ran into one last summer that would act up after it was heated up. Every time I went to test it, by the time I removed a table and bench and got the engine hatch opened up, it was working OK again. Luckily I had a used slave solenoid kicking around. Put it in and the problem went away. So I sold him a new one.

 

[blued]

I've not had this problem again so I think cleaning all the terminals must have resolved the issue - thanks everyone.