Starter Bad?

[dschuma72]

I have a 2.3l that will engage the starter and I can see the pully moving but not even near fast enough to crank the motor. NAPA rebuilt the starter last year as I had issues with it not crankin at all.<br /><br />My question is will a starter go bad like that where she will spin just not fast enough or should I be looking at some other location for the problem?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

I have a spare battery and swapped it over on the spot but the same. The cables look to be in good shape but I will definatly give that another look and do some resistance tests without any juice hooked up. I know it was sucking the juice from the battery as it was very hot to touch.<br /><br />This happened a few times last year after the starter was rebuilt and I had it out a couple times this year without any issues.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Starter Bad?

And,..........<br />Check All the Grounds.........<br /><br />It Sounds like an On-going Problem...........<br /><br />The fact that things got Hot is a sign of resistence somewhere...........

 

[tommays]

Re: Starter Bad?

the condition of you battery, battery cables and all the conection could cause the problem <br /><br />a bad cable will show 12 volts on the meter but not pass enough amps to spin the motor<br /><br />you have to look everything over and see what kind of shape its in and how old it is <br /><br />a 20 year old battery cable is going to be tired<br /><br />tommays

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

I always pulled out and eventually start last year but I gave up today and it never did start.

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Starter Bad?

The easiest way to test all of that is to put a volt meter on the battery while cranking, if it is dropping below 11.5V the battery is weak. If the battery is still showing 11.5V or above, move the meter leads to the starter and crank, if you get more than .5V-1.0V less voltage there, the cables and or connections are bad.

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

waterone. thanks man<br /><br />Advice I'll put to use!

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

Both batterys drop to 7v on crank. Throwing them on the charger to see what's up.

 

[Don S]

Re: Starter Bad?

What were they before you started cranking? You really need to pull the batteries, charge them up and have them load tested. If you have a dead cell or it's sulphated, no amount of charging is going to work

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

The first one was 12.75, not sure what the other one was as I only looked at crank. Both batterys are under two years old and the one I have on the charger right now was bought last July.<br /><br />It is taking a charge though like it was drained so we'll see. I'll go buy another one if this charge doesn't take.<br /><br />When the starter was rebuilt something had to be soldered and the shop wasn't sure if it would hold. I'm wondering if that gave way and ther'es a short in the starter draining my batterys cause these were both good batterys and I seen no sign of them going bad.<br /><br />I'll get this one charged up and see what happens. If it starts I'm just going to get two new batterys and have no worries. If the same thing with no start I'll get a new battery stick it in and go from there.<br /><br />I appreciate all your help. THis is the best boating forum on the net!<br /><br />Thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: Starter Bad?

Before you start buying batteries, you might want to have the starter checked out again. Sounds to me like it was on its last leg anyway and is now given up.

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

I wasn't sure if the starter could fail like that. Thought it was either worked or didn't work, never had one that couldn't crank a motor but would spin the flywheel slowly.<br /><br />I charged the battery and same thing, stuck it in my truck and it fires without a problem. Guess I'll yank the starter and get a new one.<br /><br />I'll let you know the results.<br /><br />Thnaks

 

[dschuma72]

Re: Starter Bad?

It was the starter. Put a new one in and she fired right up!<br /><br />Thanks

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Starter Bad?

For future reference and for other that may find this thread, here is a link to the Merc recommended procedure for testing the starter. Thanks to Don S for providing a link to all these great bulletins in another thread<br /><br /> http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_11.pdf

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Starter Bad?

In the same spirit as "future reference". If your starter is drawing a "ton of amps" and dropping the voltage, both at the battery and (to some degree worse) at the starter terminals...you may have a bad starter. If one or two (of the four) brushes inside of the starter are no longer making contact, the starter will draw significant amps yet crank slowly.....even with good wiring and a good battery. If you have had your starter rebuilt or serviced and the shop tells you they are not sure if this will work.....please post that!!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Starter Bad?

Future ref is simply grabbing the darn thing! Don't think ya need a bunch of fancy meters here. Ya got a good, working starter now. Crank it and start the motor. shut it off, now reach down and grab it. Whats it feek like? Just for kicks, put the old one it and crank it for a few seconds. The energy has to go somewhere, so you better have a glove on when you grab it now. A bad starter will usually get hot.......

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Starter Bad?

If a volt meter is a "fancy meter" I would hate to hear what could be said for my scan tool and scope. Guess what......you can't work on modern boats with 1962 equipment......well you could, you just wouldn't get any where.