Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilbyfred
12.6. They are brand new. I also checked the cables and wires and no corrosion. I got them with a wire brush just in case. Same thing. And the whirring is so loud and powerful, I'm convinced that this isn't a voltage issue. Though I have been known to be wrong...
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Having recabled my
boat this spring and helping a friend do his this summer, I'm never willing to let unknown cable pass the "it looks fine" test. Most of my cable was totally fine but there was corrosion in places and it was replaced with all new cable.
My buddy's boat was far worse. I had lugs that looked fine that snapped off when I bent them.
Just based on what you are saying it seems coincidental that the starter stopped working correctly around this time.
In order to isolate my buddy's "it won't start" issue, I took a good starter battery and brought it right next to the engine. Made up some really short cables from old cables (I have the big crimper but you could use jumpers for this) and essentially wired up a battery to the starter via solenoid exactly as it normally would. When I jumped the terminals it immediately started.
My buddy was complaining that the starter would barely spin even with brand new batteries.
Once we knew the issue was not the starter I was sure it was a cable or ground issue. Took a few minutes of digging in the
bilge to find the 2 cables screwed together with a wingnut, covered in duct tape and laying in
bilge water to find the problem.
You can perform the same test using a jump pack etc just to be sure that the issue is either
wiring or starter related. Would help narrow the focus. If a new starter is indeed $100 on eBay, I'd be inclined to toss a boat buck at it anyways just to have a spare.
I wish I had done that with my
Westerbeke rather than pay $400 for said eBay starter when I was in a bind the night before a
race and mine died. Ended up just being a solenoid so I rebuilt the original as a spare.