Starter or Solenoid

[Buddyryansbronco]

I have a 1988 88hp Evinrude outboard. My starter motor seems to turn fine but only ocasionally engages with the fly wheel (ie it pops up but not all the way. I would say 1/10 tries it engages and the engine starts fine. My first thought is that the solenoid is going bad. I have cleaned all connections with no difference noted. So my question is: Bad solenoid or starter motor. Thanks for your help.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Starter or Solenoid

Have you tried putting a little lubricant on the pinion gear shaft on the starter? Sounds like the selonoid is doing it's job.

 

[ob]

Re: Starter or Solenoid

After you have followed Ricks good advice to insure the bendix is lubricated and not sticking, from an electrical standpoint you need to insure that your battery is fully charged and the proper cranking amp.Next,insure that your groung lugs are clean and tight.If this is all in line you can test the solenoid by jumping from the large cable input to the small ignition wire on solenoid and see if it has the same effect.If so,using a large battery cable,jump across the two large cables of your solenoid and see if it engages.Note:be exteremely careful in the area of the flywheel while performing this test.Post back with results.

 

[Buddyryansbronco]

Re: Starter or Solenoid

BINGO!!!!! A few shots of WD40 and the problem is gone. 10+ starts in a row without any problems. I feel like a fool but I would have felt worse if I dropped some money to replace working parts.<br /><br />Believe it or not I have managed to keep this motor running like a top since I bought it in 1994 with just minor regular maintainence. I just found this forum today and I think I have learned more about my engine today than I did in the past 9 years. Thanks for your help.