A friend asked me to help him fix his boat. Its a Stingray with a Mercruiser 383 Magnum. The engine has only been in about a year and only has about 10 hours on it. First starter went out pretty quickly and was replaced by a rebuilt unit. It stopped working after the boat sat up for a few months. When I tried to start the boat, only the master starter solenoid on top of the engine would click. I felt like it was a loose or corroded wire connection. I removed, cleaned and tighten all battery cables at the battery and where they connected to the engine block and starter. No change. I jumped across the master solenoid and nothing happened, not even a slight spark. Jumped from the large terminal on the starter to the small terminal. Nothing. Convinced myself to remove the starter at that point. With the starter out, I used some jumper cables and jumper wires to test the starter. It would turn, but the bendix would not throw out.
I left and returned the next day with a new starter. Installed it correctly. Same problem. Master solenoid clicks only. Here is where it gets really weird. Through jumping around with a screwdriver or jumper wires I found that I can get the starter to crank only if I jump with a screw driver from the large cable connection to the small wire connection. Normal except it will only work if the small wire from the master solenoid is disconnected. If the small wire is connected, nothing happens, not even a small spark.
I got out the meter and verified I have power to the small terminal on the starter when key is turned to crank position. I checked the master solenoid and even though it checked out, I replaced it anyway. No change. I'm pulling my hair out. Has anyone out there run into this before?
I left and returned the next day with a new starter. Installed it correctly. Same problem. Master solenoid clicks only. Here is where it gets really weird. Through jumping around with a screwdriver or jumper wires I found that I can get the starter to crank only if I jump with a screw driver from the large cable connection to the small wire connection. Normal except it will only work if the small wire from the master solenoid is disconnected. If the small wire is connected, nothing happens, not even a small spark.
I got out the meter and verified I have power to the small terminal on the starter when key is turned to crank position. I checked the master solenoid and even though it checked out, I replaced it anyway. No change. I'm pulling my hair out. Has anyone out there run into this before?
