Starting Issue After Unrelated Mech Repairs

[PosessionSound26PC]

for the time being, forget about all those other "issues" you spoke of and focus on the starter circuit only and lets recap:
your starters are 30 years old,
have not been used in 2 years,
you have power going from the solenoid to the stsrter on the yellow/red wire when the key is turned to start
you have battery + 12V going to the large lug on the starter
you have good grounds

all roads lead to needing a new starter.

just a little side note on this subject:
when i rebuild or replace a motor, i make it a ritual to strap it down on a trailer or something solid and run it , with water running through it, tune it and make it plug and play ready. you can save yourself a lot of time doing such.
good luck

Yup, that about covers it. Can't think of anything else other than the starters themselves. Was hoping it was something easier to save myself having to squeeze into that tiny bilge but that's life

 

[nola mike]

Yup, that about covers it. Can't think of anything else other than the starters themselves. Was hoping it was something easier to save myself having to squeeze into that tiny bilge but that's life

Did you clean the connections on the starters?

 

[PosessionSound26PC]

Did you clean the connections on the starters?

Difficult to get to w/o taking the starters off, especially starboard where it's all but impossible. But they all looked spotless from what I could tell.

 

[nola mike]

Difficult to get to w/o taking the starters off, especially starboard where it's all but impossible. But they all looked spotless from what I could tell.

You might be surprised. However, if you have to pull the starters anyway, you might as well go ahead and replace them with PMGR starters, which are a huge improvement, and are much much easier to maneuver in there. Probably worth bench testing them after you pull them to confirm that that's the issue.

 

[tpenfield]

Sorry to hear about the engine woes. My thoughts . . . not having read all of the prior comments.

Not sure if you ever verified that the slave solenoids on the engines were actually making a good contact? (even though they were both 'clicking'). The ohm meter and the alligator clip wires can help you see if you are getting a short across the main terminals on the solenoids when you turn the key(s) to start. Maybe even try a new solenoid.

16 volts? on starboard engine? Almost wondering if the batteries are hooked up in series (rather than parallel) Does the volt meter peg or just go to 16 volts? The gauges of those Formulas were the VDO 'Blue Line' series IIRC. Maybe see if you can get a new gauge if it proves to be faulty.

The Formulas of that vintage had the Perko battery select switch (right?) I assume no changes at the Perko switch?

The engine connections are as they were before you began your engine work (right?). Re-check the engine harness connector.

 

[PosessionSound26PC]

Sorry to hear about the engine woes. My thoughts . . . not having read all of the prior comments.

Not sure if you ever verified that the slave solenoids on the engines were actually making a good contact? (even though they were both 'clicking'). The ohm meter and the alligator clip wires can help you see if you are getting a short across the main terminals on the solenoids when you turn the key(s) to start. Maybe even try a new solenoid.

16 volts? on starboard engine? Almost wondering if the batteries are hooked up in series (rather than parallel) Does the volt meter peg or just go to 16 volts? The gauges of those Formulas were the VDO 'Blue Line' series IIRC. Maybe see if you can get a new gauge if it proves to be faulty.

The Formulas of that vintage had the Perko battery select switch (right?) I assume no changes at the Perko switch?

The engine connections are as they were before you began your engine work (right?). Re-check the engine harness connector.

Ted,

Re the slave solenoids: I do get proper voltage down at the starters themselves (on the yellow/red exciter wire), downstream of the solenoids so they are making good contact when the key is turned to START. Should be good there, yes?

That starboard voltage gauge seems fussy - it pegs (16v is max reading but needle goes beyond) but not always, a couple of key turns and they seem to go to 12v again. Will look into a new one after I fix this starting issue.

Yes, I think it's the same/original battery switch. No changes to it.

I did not touch the port engine and it's not turning over either so I assumed it wasn't the starboard harness, plus as @San_Diego_SeaRay noted, since I'm getting slave solenoid clicks, that means the entire START/ignition circuit works properly at least up to that point, so harness should be good.

I plan on tearing off a starter on Friday and bench test it and if it doesn't work, I'll pull the other as well.

Thanks and nice avatar!

 

[nola mike]

Thanks and nice avatar!

@tpenfield , time to change it?

 

[tpenfield]

@tpenfield , time to change it?

Maybe

 

[PosessionSound26PC]

Ok, I've ordered two new PMGR upgrade starters from Sierra, hopefully a little smaller and lighter than the originals to help go back in easier. One question: the two long bolts that hold the starter in are perpendicular to the axis of the motor and do not really clamp that mating face to the flywheel housing, only the one in the vertical direction. There is also no gasket that I can see. Is this joint supposed to be open/not water tight? It's a car engine so probably not...? I read somewhere that there's actually an opening in the flywheel housing (aside for the starter opening) so there's no point to sealing the starter joint...