Merc Starter Question?

[littletoes]

Mercury 25
Serial# OG438850 1997 25E 6000 MAX RPM

Went over to a friends house today to try and help him figure out why his boat wouldn't start. Brought my meter/tester with me just to "check things out" a bit, and noticed the solenoid will pull-in, but the starter wouldn't do anything. Pulled it, and tried to "bench-test" it straight off the battery.

Didn't have any jumper cables, but I did have a couple of electrical jumpers, which might not be big enough to carry the needed voltage/amperage. Tell me what you think!

I jumped the ground to the ground connection on the starter, then held the starter positive connection directly to the positive connection on the battery, for just a second. Nothing. Reversed the leads, and tried it the other way, jumper from the positive side of the battery to the positive connection on the starter, then touched a clean spot on the body of the starter where the ground hooked too. Still nothing....no sound, no heat, no nuthin'!.

It looks to me like there is an open winding on the starter motor, I did ohm it, but for the life of me I can't remember the results! Guess I can do it again, and if its open...its open and therefore, BAD.

Give me your thoughts folks! Did I bench test it right??? Anyone have a clue what a starter motor is supposed to ohm too, from the positive connection to the body??

Any help is surely appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Merc Starter Question?

Starter draws a lot of current so the resistance across it's windings is very small. A lot of Merc starters have permanent magnet fields. So current goes thru the brush to the armature winding and thru the brush to ground. I would open her up and inspect the brushes. Ohm the commutator to the metal of the armature. There should be on connectivity. Other than that you will probably not find on open winding on the armature, unless you know exactly how it is wound.

 

[littletoes]

Re: Merc Starter Question?

Thank You Sir!

It's safe to pull it apart, without any springs "heading to farther places"? Never had one of these apart before....

Where do you think might be the best place to order one, if needed?

Thanks Again!

 

[littletoes]

Re: Merc Starter Question?

All right....pulled it apart, and cleaned it out. Had a bit of what looked like sand in it, just a bit. The inside was a bit dirty, so I wiped everything down, including a bit of rubbing with some very fine sandpaper. Including the Armature. Put a tiny bit of grease on each end of the armature where it contacts the bronze bushing/bearing.

Put it all back together, and it still didn't work. Wondering if replacing the brushes would do any good....but not sure.

Any help?

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Merc Starter Question?

Since you have it out take it to your local auto electric shop and have them test it. Auto parts store may be able to test it too I can't remember.