1990 Evinrude 90HP starter wants to run the motor counter-clockwise

[tolent]

This is a stupid question but why does the starter want to run the motor counter-clockwise? The rope gouge where the knotted end of the starter rope would go would spin the motor clockwise which is the way it should spin. Any help would be great. Please pardon my ignorance, I'm new to boating so working on this outboard is new to me.

 

[fireman57]

You ahve your battery hooked up backwards.

 

[tolent]

But everything else onboard works fine...stereo, nav lights etc. The starter does drag when trying to turn over though.

 

[fireman57]

check it. that is the only thing I know of that will turn your engine in reverse. If you did hook it up backward you have blown your rectifier and it will no longer charge your battery.

 

[tolent]

Ok. I was wrong...It spins it right. "Senior moment"! Still I'm thinking the starter on it is too small to turn the motor over. When I pull one of the 4 plugs to relieve some of the compression, the motor turns over easy by hand yet when I try to start it with the starter it drags and it won't even make one complete revolution.

 

[fireman57]

Have you changed the starter and put the wrong one on? How would the wrong starter get on there. Try this, spray some wd40 on the starter shaft and crank it a couple times and see if it loosens up. If it does and it spins the motor then put some very lightweight oil on it. I steal some of my wife's sewing machine oil.

 

[tolent]

I just got the boat. It is a 1990 Seaswirl and it has been sitting since at least 2010. Things are a little gummed up. The starter is the same one that was on it when we got the boat.

 

[tolent]

My father in law who is a mechanic has tried various things to get it to work and we are both stumped. Maybe I should just get a new starter and be done with it. Going to upgrade and replace some things on it anyway. I got the boat for free so any spending on it is still a great deal.

 

[fireman57]

make sure that your battery connection are clean and tight. you can make lights work with a bad connection but when you start pulling the kind of juice a starter needs it can't do it. Clean all the connections on the starter and solenoid too.

 

[tolent]

Tried that and we connected the battery charger leads directly to the solenoid connectors and it still wouldn't turn it.

 

[fireman57]

did you go directly to the starter?

 

[tolent]

Yes we did.

 

[fireman57]

You said battery charger leads. Unless you have the jump start on your charger it won't have enough to even think about turning over the engine.

 

[tolent]

Ya we got it set on "supercharge start"

 

[fireman57]

Can you spin the starter by hand? does it turn fairly easily?

 

[tolent]

yes. But as soon as you put the starter under any load it bogs down.

 

[jakedaawg]

Why not just take the starter off, apart, and inspect it. Incredibly simple to do

 

[tolent]

That looks like the next option. Like I said it has been sitting for a long time and even though the cover was bolted down to the motor it was sitting near the salty coast air.

 

[fireman57]

I would rather use jumper cables and a vehicle than the jump start on a charger. Make sure you ground is good from the battery to the engine also. If you use jumper cables do they get hot? I agree with jake. Take it apart if you can't get it to work.

 

[tolent]

Thank you both for your feedback.