Lehman Starter Problems

[Capt. Rich]

I own an 87 Marine Trader 50ft. Widebody, with Lehman 275s. The starters are 4 year old repacements from American Diesel. The port starter will not turn over with battery selector in positon #1 or #2 but will turn over fine in the" both" position. the starborad starter turns over fine in any 3 positions. The voltage at the starters with engines not running is 12.8 volts.. I jumped the solenoid on the port starter and this did not help. My next thought is to swap starters from one engine to the other. Before I do this does anyone have something else to check. It is not easy getting the port starter off. I have to use a mirror to see the bolts, etc.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Capt. Rich.

[AnchorageGuy]

Rich, You need to check the voltage at the starters when you hit the start switch. You might be surprised. This sure sounds like a voltage issue and not a starter issue. Wiring and connectors and connection points should all be cleaned and checked. We have the 120 Lehman. Chuck

[Chief Engineer]

Trace out the cables from the selector switch to the starters.

Draw a schematic.........Report Back to the Board

[atoll]

sounds like a dead/corroded contact rather than the starter

[Capt Phil]

Got a call several years ago to tend to a cranky Lehmann in a beautiful old 50 foot wooden Columbia in a San Diego marina. Hadn't be run for about 6 months but batteries were on a trickle charger. You could hear the solenoid click but starter wouldn't turn. Hit it lightly with a hammer and it kicked over and started the engine with no problem. Ran it for 5 minutes, shut her down and restarted with no problem. The old fellow who was the owner was delighted as he had his family arriving at any moment. Think it might have been a 120 Lehmann.
I'm sure Chief E would have kicked my butt had he been there! Cheers, Capt Phil

[Capt. Rich]

Hello All,
I started the voltage search and found the voltage at the starter on the starboard engine drops to about 9 volts when cranking on #1, #2 and BOTH positions on the battery selector. The starter cranks fine. The port or problem side drops to 4.7-3.1 to almost 0 on selector #1 and #2. In BOTH position it cranks fine and drops to about 8.1 volts. I am working my way up the line and will report back at engine room on off switch, batteries, and finally the helm panel battery selector. Once again, any advice is deeply appreciated.

[Chief Engineer]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Got a call several years ago to tend to a cranky Lehmann in a beautiful old 50 foot wooden Columbia in a San Diego marina. Hadn't be run for about 6 months but batteries were on a trickle charger. You could hear the solenoid click but starter wouldn't turn. Hit it lightly with a hammer and it kicked over and started the engine with no problem. Ran it for 5 minutes, shut her down and restarted with no problem. The old fellow who was the owner was delighted as he had his family arriving at any moment. Think it might have been a 120 Lehmann.
I'm sure Chief E would have kicked my butt had he been there! Cheers, Capt Phil

Sometimes a plastic deadblow hammer will get you out of a peekle (pickle)

[Capt. Rich]

Hello All, Just call me a moron. I have a newer Zantrex battery charger hooked up to both engine batteries. It was providing false voltage to a failing battery. I turned the charger off and the battery could not turn over either engine and the voltage dropped under load. The battery could not regain voltage without the charger. The charger was providing enough voltage to barely turn over the engine and allow the gauages to read just fine. Thanks for the input.

[Chief Engineer]

As my Port Engineer told me years ago......

Look for the simple things first