Yanmar Starter Is Intermittent

[SkiprJohn]

Its not only Yanmar or Universal. Same thing happened to my lawn tractor. Wasn't the solenoid just corroded cables not letting enough juice get to the solenoid. Happens in cars too when the battery cables aren't clean or the battery is low.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Tropic Cat]

Looks like Pat had it exactly right. I spread the contacts on all the connectors and the problem hasn't reappeared.

Thanks again

[never monday]

Originally Posted by rickm505

Looks like Pat had it exactly right. I spread the contacts on all the connectors and the problem hasn't reappeared.

Thanks again

Well that's a first

[Tropic Cat]

ya mean I wasn't supposed to be listening to your advice??? Now ya tell me.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by never monday

Sitting next to the starter are two molded connectors. The larger one has two larger pins in it. Spread the pins back apart. There is a similar connector about a foot off of the panel. Do the same there.
This is a normal problem with the older Yanmar panels and harnesses.

Rick - Just for clarification - This is the secondary circuit? I ask because the click indicates the solenoid was firing - i.e. the primary circuit was energizing.

If the secondary circuit has friction connections (i.e. plugs) in it that has to be a pretty "dumb" idea. I'd figure out how to make them bolted connections.

[Tropic Cat]

I see your point. I'll only mention that it's been working this way for 22 years, and if spreading the contacts allows it to operate for another 10 years, I'm satisfied. I'm not looking to reengineer the circuit as I have more pressing demands on my time.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by rickm505

I see your point. I'll only mention that it's been working this way for 22 years, and if spreading the contacts allows it to operate for another 10 years, I'm satisfied. I'm not looking to reengineer the circuit as I have more pressing demands on my time.

Now that you've mentioned that fix, I faintly remember my Yanmar 3HM35 doing that soon after we bought the boat in 1987. I traced the same plug/socket connection on the aft end of the engine, did the clean/spread fix and it never happened again. We sold the boat in 1999. I wonder if the problem has reoccured for the new owner?

Steve B.

[Deck Below]

I too had intermittent starting problem with my 2GM20F. Engine and starter are 20 years old. After performing usual diagnostics with volt meter, it turned out the Hitachi S114-303 starter simply needed new brushes. I disassembled the starter and had brushes installed by a local shop, ALL TECH AUTO ELECTRIC in Danbury, CT, at very modest cost. I reassembled the starter and am back in business.
Worn out starter brushes will give symptoms of poor wiring, bad ground, bad solenoid, etc.

[Fasttimes]

I recently bought new solenoid for my yanmar 3hm35f it cost 40 dollars and i found it on ebay just type yanmar solenoid in ebay search

[Tropic Cat]

I figured I'd post a followup to this thread as the starter problem seems to be widespread. In my case the problem was twofold.

When I put a voltmeter on the starter, I was in fact reading good battery voltage. As I delved deeper I figured out a way to monitor the battery voltage as I tried to start the engine and an entirely different picture developed. With the voltmeter connected to solenoid and engine block, I depressed the start button and battery voltage at the solenoid dropped to 8 volts and the starter wouldn't turn. I then changed my ground lead to the voltmeter from the engine block to the battery bank and repeated the test. Voltage remained rock steady. This indicated a poor ground from battery bank to the Starboard engine. I spent a few hours replacing ground connectors and cleaning ground cables. In repeating the original test, voltage to the solenoid increased from 8 to 11.5 volts under load. Ground obviously repaired, but still no joy. I then replaced the starter and everything has been working perfectly.

I think SkiprJohn was correct in that battery cable corrosion is an important consideration. I probably had the poor ground for some time and it was responsible for insufficient voltage being supplied to the solenoid under load. This in turn probably contributed to the contacts within the solenoid becoming dirty and ultimately fail.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by rickm505

I
battery cable corrosion is an important consideration.

I have found that to be a problem in Florida (climate?) on cars and boats.

The terminals need not have visible corrosion on them.

The terminals can look fine but are not.

I have even removed a terminal and looked at the mating surfaces and thought it looked OK. It was not and did not work properly until "shiny".

[dennishoward228]

I've developed the same problem on a Yanmar 3GM30F, but it seems to me to be a slowly corroding solenoid contact. Can one take the solenoid apart and clean the contacts?

[idpnd]

I had a similar problem on an entirely differnet engine - it was due to bad contacts.; actually a stainless steel nut on a bronze contact. By the time I got a bronze nut on there I had taken apart the starter and done a lot of other unnecessary bits..

[mike d.]

regarding taking the solenoid. yes you can if it is the old type with black/bacalite cap with two bat cable lugs if you gently undo the nuts on the lugs. one lug will move freely, the other you will feel resistance on. the problem is with the one that moves freely. you should be able to push down on the loose one and turn it 180deg. then tighten everything back up. back in the 60s and 70s during my go fast car days with G.M. we frequently ran into this problem and an old timer said the easy fix was what i just described. you can take the whole top off but you need to be very careful you don't break the wires attached to the other posts in cap. under the cap is a copper wheel on a stud held up by spring pressure. that wheel makes contact with all the studs and rotates as it does so. this burns the surface of the studs, but for some reason the one main stud(the loose one when you take the nuts off is the one that burns it's contact surface the most when you turn the stud 180 you get new contact surface and your good t o go for another 50-100k miles of starting

[DeepFrz]

I have had the old style solenoids apart and dressed the contacts with a smooth file (don't use Emory cloth). I have not seen the type mentioned above with the wheel that turned. I have not had the Yanmar specific solenoids apart though, so work carefully.