I spent half the day trying to get this rescued old girl started and half the day reading about what to do on this site. I have to say, this is one of the best sites I have seen. It is very well organized and has a ton of quality info. The boat is an old Norriscraft that I rescued. She was found rotting away on the edge of the woods across town. We brought her home and have been slowly dialing her back in.
Believe it or not, last weekend I got her turning over and found out that I needed to R&R the points and condensers. After installing these this morning I could not wait to give it a go and when I turned the key...nothing. No starter, no click. I then went to my repair manual to find the proper test procedure for the starter solenoid. This 'Clymer' manual was telling me to test at certain points but the diagram was not marked properly in the book. That's when I started searching this site.
I found one of your posts where you were helping someone with the same engine and offered a good diagram to view. I actually had the same problem this person did - I had voltage on first three solenoid posts, no click when turning the key and no voltage on post 4. One of the posts stated that this condition would tell you to replace the solenoid but a few words later it also stated that it could also be a bad ground on the 3rd post.
I had another solenoid in the shop and swapped it out but had the same problem - same readings. I then started rechecking grounds and connections. I then decided that instead of trying to track down the bad ground through multiple places it would be faster to establish a new ground and prove this. I connected a jumper from post three (small starter side post on solenoid) directly to the negative battery terminal. This time when I turned the key she fired right up!
Now (finally) my question: This obviously proves that the solenoid is good and I have a poor ground somewhere. Jumping this as I did just masked the problem. Where would you suggest I go from here?
I can see evidence that someone has messed with the wiring before from a few splices. In fact there are three wires that are laying on the bottom of the motor beneath the carb. They appear to have been cut and covered - not in use.
Now that I know she's good I am going to pull the lower unit and go through it before going any further. I actually found a crack in the lower unit bottom cover that caps off the prop shaft. When I filled the lower unit with oil it started to seep out of this crack. If I can't get this one welded I've been told one of our local marinas shoulkd have this cover.
Well, let me know your thoughts on the best course of action to chase down the poor ground.
Thanks
Tim
Believe it or not, last weekend I got her turning over and found out that I needed to R&R the points and condensers. After installing these this morning I could not wait to give it a go and when I turned the key...nothing. No starter, no click. I then went to my repair manual to find the proper test procedure for the starter solenoid. This 'Clymer' manual was telling me to test at certain points but the diagram was not marked properly in the book. That's when I started searching this site.
I found one of your posts where you were helping someone with the same engine and offered a good diagram to view. I actually had the same problem this person did - I had voltage on first three solenoid posts, no click when turning the key and no voltage on post 4. One of the posts stated that this condition would tell you to replace the solenoid but a few words later it also stated that it could also be a bad ground on the 3rd post.
I had another solenoid in the shop and swapped it out but had the same problem - same readings. I then started rechecking grounds and connections. I then decided that instead of trying to track down the bad ground through multiple places it would be faster to establish a new ground and prove this. I connected a jumper from post three (small starter side post on solenoid) directly to the negative battery terminal. This time when I turned the key she fired right up!
Now (finally) my question: This obviously proves that the solenoid is good and I have a poor ground somewhere. Jumping this as I did just masked the problem. Where would you suggest I go from here?
I can see evidence that someone has messed with the wiring before from a few splices. In fact there are three wires that are laying on the bottom of the motor beneath the carb. They appear to have been cut and covered - not in use.
Now that I know she's good I am going to pull the lower unit and go through it before going any further. I actually found a crack in the lower unit bottom cover that caps off the prop shaft. When I filled the lower unit with oil it started to seep out of this crack. If I can't get this one welded I've been told one of our local marinas shoulkd have this cover.
Well, let me know your thoughts on the best course of action to chase down the poor ground.
Thanks
Tim
