Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

[cscott711]

Hi,

I was out on the water today and my electric start for my 1970's Johnson Seahorse stopped working. You could hear it try to work, but nothing would happen. Fortunately, the pull start worked fine.

Later on, I pulled the cover off and found that the starter gear wouldn't engage with the fly wheel. Upon doing some research including discovering the very similar thread below, I proceeded to clean and lubricate the gear shaft with WD40 and then a silicone spray. I also noticed that there seemed to be less power (the gear rotated slower) than earlier when I tried it. I read that having a trolling motor connected to your main starter battery is a bad idea as it will drain it quickly. Well, that is what I have and I used the trolling motor a decent amount today and yesterday. So, I hooked up the battery charger tonight and it just completed its charge. I tried to start it just now and it doesn't even attempt to spin. I can hear the solenoid click when I push the starter button, but that is all. Trolling motor still runs and boat lights come on so I know there's power.

Any other ideas of what I should try?

http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/starter-gear-spins-will-not-engage-467385.html

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

I would start with a load test on the battery. ( auto parts store will do it free)

sounds like you really need to set up a deep cycle battery for your troller.

 

[lindy46]

Re: Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

Clean all the wiring connections until shiny and check for corroded wiring. Most starter problems are actually wiring problems.

 

[gm280]

Re: Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

I would try real quickly to jumper around the starter soleniod first just to verify that your soleniod isn't bad. Clicking is one thing, but passing enough current through to the starter is something else... Wouldn't hurt to make sure...

 

[cscott711]

Re: Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

Clean all the wiring connections until shiny and check for corroded wiring. Most starter problems are actually wiring problems.

I will try this tonight and see what happens.

 

[cscott711]

Re: Johnson Seahorse Electric Start Won't Engage

I would try real quickly to jumper around the starter soleniod first just to verify that your soleniod isn't bad. Clicking is one thing, but passing enough current through to the starter is something else... Wouldn't hurt to make sure...

Any idea how I can jump the starter?