Starter spins, but does not rise.

[Projectus]

Hello all,
1992 30hp Evinrude

The starter spins like crazy, but it doesn't lift to engage the flywheel.
Tried gentle banging, and a little WD-40.
Battery is fully charged.

I'm supposed to sell the boat tomorrow night! The guy's 9-year-old is dying to go fishing.
Any help?
Thank you.

 

[pdaly28]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

my guess would be a bad starter drive.First I would be sure the battery is fully charged and all connections are clean.Hope this helps.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Starters get replaced on here FOR NO REASON every day. My battery terminal cables were corroded and caused this to happen. You could go to advanced auto and get some heavy duty battery terminal clamps, (the automotive kind) and cut back the main power and ground wires a few inches and put them on. I had to run fresh 6ga. wire to a bar clamp to the main harness, cause mine were corroded a few feet up. I bet the current is being blocked by some corrosion. If the starter and solenoid have corrosion on them you could clean those up too. If you do all that without success, tell the buyer it needs a starter or solenoid. No biggie. Also, if the battery was cold that could limit the voltage too.

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Thanks, fellas.
The battery cable leads are very clean, but any corrosion above that, I don't know.
And I'm hoping that because the starter spins, that the cables are still good. Could some corrosion inside the cables allow enough energy to spin the starter, but not lift it?

 

[sutor623]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Could some corrosion inside the cables allow enough energy to spin the starter, but not lift it?View attachment 137237

Yes!! That is exactly what happened to mine. If you have electrical tape, cut a small groove in the wire right up to the terminal ends, just enough to spread it to take a look. If they look okay, tape em up. You also can take the power wire and bypass the solenoid straight to the starter (WITH BATTERY CABLES UNHOOKED!!!) Hook up the battery, and then turn the key on. (I have a jump start kit that I use, and what I do is turn key on, clamp neg to neg, and pos to pos ON THE STARTER not the solenoid, then turn the jumper kit on for a brief second) If the starter engages, then you have a bad solenoid.

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Thanks, Pete. I'll try that with the jumper kit.
And I'll check for corrosion like you said.
Thanks again.

And I'll respond with what eventually works for other people who might have the same problem.

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

If you grab the gear, does it want to slide up and down on the starter shaft?

 

[boobie]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

The battery isn't hooked up backwards, Is it ???

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Interesting turn of events...
I checked to see if the gear will slide up and down the pinion, and it does rise up if I turn it clockwise.
Then, I bypassed the solenoid and hooked my booster kit up directly to the starter's terminals. I turned on the booster kit, and whammo! It engaged the flywheel. (I was kind of expecting to need the key in the ignition, and walk back to the console to turn it. Nope. Scared the hell outta me.

So anyway, I noticed that the gear needs to spin clockwise to rise and engage the flywheel. After my booster experiment, I hooked the boat's battery back up, and turned the key in the ignition. The starter gear turns COUNTER-clockwise. Since it's impossible with my leads and my battery to hook up backwards (the posts and leads won't fit the wrong way), I'm wondering...how does a battery reverse polarity???

 

[drumz2129]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Interesting turn of events...
I checked to see if the gear will slide up and down the pinion, and it does rise up if I turn it clockwise.
Then, I bypassed the solenoid and hooked my booster kit up directly to the starter's terminals. I turned on the booster kit, and whammo! It engaged the flywheel. (I was kind of expecting to need the key in the ignition, and walk back to the console to turn it. Nope. Scared the hell outta me.

So anyway, I noticed that the gear needs to spin clockwise to rise and engage the flywheel. After my booster experiment, I hooked the boat's battery back up, and turned the key in the ignition. The starter gear turns COUNTER-clockwise. Since it's impossible with my leads and my battery to hook up backwards (the posts and leads won't fit the wrong way), I'm wondering...how does a battery reverse polarity???

By any chance is the battery sitting in the battery box backwards? as in 180deg from where it should be?

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

The battery I'm using is usually devoted to my "accessories" because I didn't like the way the battery I usually use for starting looked. So, since it doesn't fit in that battery's box, I just have it sitting on the carpeted rear deck while I'm trying all of this. Can that have an effect??

 

[daselbee]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

The starter turns counterclockwise to turn the engine clockwise.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

The starter turns counterclockwise to turn the engine clockwise.

Yup. Simple gear format.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Interesting turn of events...
I checked to see if the gear will slide up and down the pinion, and it does rise up if I turn it clockwise.
Then, I bypassed the solenoid and hooked my booster kit up directly to the starter's terminals. I turned on the booster kit, and whammo! It engaged the flywheel. (I was kind of expecting to need the key in the ignition, and walk back to the console to turn it. Nope. Scared the hell outta me.

So anyway, I noticed that the gear needs to spin clockwise to rise and engage the flywheel. After my booster experiment, I hooked the boat's battery back up, and turned the key in the ignition. The starter gear turns COUNTER-clockwise. Since it's impossible with my leads and my battery to hook up backwards (the posts and leads won't fit the wrong way), I'm wondering...how does a battery reverse polarity???

So either you battery does not have great CCA, your solenoid is bad, or you have corrosion in the system somewhere. Voila. If I were you Id clean up all the terminals and connections from battery to solenoid, to starter, and see if it works. If it does then youre good to go. If not, a simple demo to the buyer and instructions for him to buy a new solenoid will have that boat outta the driveway.

 

[boobie]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Usually the only way a battery can reverse it's polarity if it's completly dead and a battery charger was hooked up backwards when recharging it.

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

This battery sat for 1.5 years without any charging until 2 days ago. And I suppose it's possible that I connected it backwards to the charger. I'm not claiming any perfection!!

Usually the only way a battery can reverse it's polarity if it's completly dead and a battery charger was hooked up backwards when recharging it.

 

[daselbee]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

That's a reach. Clean the terminals, check for corrosion under the insulation, don't forget the ground, just as sutor says.

Load test the battery at autozone or equivalent.

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Wait, when I hooked up the booster battery directly to the starter's terminals, and had success, should I have first removed the leads already connected the the starter? (the leads coming from the solenoid?) I didn't. I didn't have the boat battery connected at the same time as the "jump start," but still. Should I have disconnected those lead wires during the "jump start?"

 

[daselbee]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

NO.

You are not listening.

 

[Projectus]

Re: Starter spins, but does not rise.

Ok, sorry. I'll clean the terminals, and check for corrosion.
Thanks for all the help.