Trevthefox
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2018
- Messages
- 101
Bear with me on this long story. I'll give as much info as I can but I'm stuck on this one.
I've been working on my Father's '96 90 HP Mercury Outboard Model: ELPTO
After noticing the positive power cable running from the solenoid to the battery was corroded, I decided to replace it. I went and got marine grade 6 gauge wire. Reconnected it, and tried to start but the starter only spun without engaging the flywheel. The following was all tried with multiple fully charged group 27 deep cycle batteries.
1) I thought the starter was bad. So I took it apart, everything looked good. Lubed the bendix and still the same problem. Brushes looked good too.
2) Then I figured it was the solenoid. Replaced that, still same problem.
3) I wanted to go fishing so I ghetto-rigged it. I bought some 2 gauge copper wire from Home depot and bypassed the solenoid. Used a dual battery switch from positive terminal on battery to the starter. Put the ignition key in "run" then had my cousin flip the switch and it started up right away.
4) Now I'm thinking that the marine grade cable from west marine was somehow not giving enough juice, so I ordered an OEM replacement from mercury and reconnected it the "proper" way and the same problem happens. Fly wheel spins but not engaging. Didn't want to use the previous 2 gauge because it's not flexible at all.
5) At this point and tried to jump the starter again, and it won't start like my previous "ghetto" rig. My last ditch effort was today. I decided to use jumper cables from my truck battery (truck not running). First I bypassed the solenoid (jumper on "out" positive post) and it engaged the flywheel, but could barely turn over the engine. Moved the jumper to the "in" positive post of the solenoid and then turned the ignition and "boom" everything was working great.
6) I removed the jumpers, so back to regular setup without the help of my truck battery, and now all of a sudden it works fine.
What the hell is going on? Please help. It might work now but I'd rather not be out on the pacific and find out it won't start again.
Thanks again for reading through this long story. I figured the more details the better you guys would understand.
I've been working on my Father's '96 90 HP Mercury Outboard Model: ELPTO
After noticing the positive power cable running from the solenoid to the battery was corroded, I decided to replace it. I went and got marine grade 6 gauge wire. Reconnected it, and tried to start but the starter only spun without engaging the flywheel. The following was all tried with multiple fully charged group 27 deep cycle batteries.
1) I thought the starter was bad. So I took it apart, everything looked good. Lubed the bendix and still the same problem. Brushes looked good too.
2) Then I figured it was the solenoid. Replaced that, still same problem.
3) I wanted to go fishing so I ghetto-rigged it. I bought some 2 gauge copper wire from Home depot and bypassed the solenoid. Used a dual battery switch from positive terminal on battery to the starter. Put the ignition key in "run" then had my cousin flip the switch and it started up right away.
4) Now I'm thinking that the marine grade cable from west marine was somehow not giving enough juice, so I ordered an OEM replacement from mercury and reconnected it the "proper" way and the same problem happens. Fly wheel spins but not engaging. Didn't want to use the previous 2 gauge because it's not flexible at all.
5) At this point and tried to jump the starter again, and it won't start like my previous "ghetto" rig. My last ditch effort was today. I decided to use jumper cables from my truck battery (truck not running). First I bypassed the solenoid (jumper on "out" positive post) and it engaged the flywheel, but could barely turn over the engine. Moved the jumper to the "in" positive post of the solenoid and then turned the ignition and "boom" everything was working great.
6) I removed the jumpers, so back to regular setup without the help of my truck battery, and now all of a sudden it works fine.
What the hell is going on? Please help. It might work now but I'd rather not be out on the pacific and find out it won't start again.
Thanks again for reading through this long story. I figured the more details the better you guys would understand.
