Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

[Fousek]

I have 9.8 Tohatsu with electric start. Motor runs fine; starts fine with manual start. Push electric start button and absolutely nothing happens. Push it again and it works fine. Maybe one out of 20 tries it clicks and engages perfectly. Otherwise nothing. Any ideas?

 

[pvanv]

Re: Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

Could be a number of things... low battery... loose cable at battery... loose cable at start switch or relay... faulty start (main) switch... mal-adjusted or faulty neutral safety switch... start relay... starter... etc. You may want to consult your local dealer.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

Check your fuse...

 

[Solmar]

Re: Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

does it always click but bendix does not engage or is there usually no click at all. the click is the solenoid. if you here a click and tap the starter and it engages bendix is frozen. Lubricate. move your shift selector while HOLDING DOWN START if that help then your neutral safety switch is the problem. get a multimeter but black to ground(any metal on engine,not painted people) and check cable from battery positive to post on starter. 12 volts??? if so check the 14-18 gauge (usually)YELLOW/RED wire on solenoid( integrated on starter) See if your getting 12 volts to your solenoid on the low amp side(smaller wires) while HOLDING START BUTTON If its not yellow/red its the one thats not ground...if you get nothing then disconnect start button and "jump the wires" to activate solenoid. Thats all I can say without actually fixin it for ya...

 

[Fousek]

Re: Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

The problem has been solved. I had disconnected the battery cables at the engine before winterizing the boat two years ago. Last year, we couldn't sail due to wife's back surgery, so it was a long time before putting the boat back in the water. The chaps at the marina remounted the motor and connected the negative terminal to a bolt on the front of the housing--mostly plastic below that. It made for a bad ground. After taking off the starter and fiddling around, the Tohatsu mechanic discovered the wrong connection, moved the cable terminal to the correct location and everything is fine.

 

[Fousek]

Re: Tohatsu 9.8 push button electric start malfunction

The problem turned out to be that the battery cables were connected to the motor wrong. Because of the way the cables were routed through the hull and into the cramped battery compartment, it had been easier to just disconnect the cables at the motor. The marina guy connected the positive cable correctly, but the negative was connected to a bolt in the front of the housing. (It looks like an obvious place to connect it, but it's mostly plastic so it provided a poor ground. It had been two years sicnhje I had looked at it, so I didn't realize the mistake. After taking out the starter and determining that it was perfectly fine, another technician discovered the problem. Simply connecting the negative to the correct bolt was all it took.