Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

[philanro]

I have a 5.0 Mercruiser in my boat (Bayliner 2350) and it will not start sometimes...it will just click. If I leave it for a few minutes it will eventually turnover and start. The boat is five years old with about 300 Hours on the engine. I'm not sure where to start to try and trace the fault. I have been told it could be a ignition switch/coil/solinoid/starter/battery or a bad ground. I would be very greatfull for any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this?

 

[tommy c]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

Hi<br /> I would start with your batteries,check connections maybe clean them up on battery post and starter motor.this maybe the quickest and easiest fix.Make sure they are fully charged.

 

[imported_Mike_M2]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

While it is true any of those things could cause your problem, the biggest culprit of the group is the slave solinoid. You engine has a second solinoid mounted in front of the starter, it looks like an old Ford fender type solinoid. I would replace that first, pretty easy to replace and will run about $60.

 

[BinLurkin]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

Clean the terminals first & make sure all the connections are good & the battery is fully charged. If it's clicking, the ignition switch is working. After all that I'd bet on the solenoid.

 

[philanro]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

Thanx a lot. I appreciate the feed back.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

Had the same thing last year on mine.Had my guy remove the starter to do it and since the starter had a few rust spots on it I thought we may as well replace the whole thing.Seloniod $35 starter with seloniod $109 less labor to do the whole starter.Better to be safe than sorry.Sooner or later it would have to be done anyway---so I did it sooner.Charlie

 

[navigator336]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

Does your problem only occur after you have run the engine for awhile or does it also occur when its cold? Warm only is generally bad battery cable connections or bad battery cables themselves or a dirty commutator in the starter motor.

 

[philanro]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

The problem occurs on both a hot and a cold start.

 

[navigator336]

Re: Mercruiser intermittent starting problems

I'd lean to the start motor also. Next time it happens if you have access, you could try jumping around the battery cables with good quality jumper cables to see if they are the culprit. Also check the voltage drop on the battery when you try to start it (it takes two people to do this and a multimeter). If the battery has a good voltage with no load, but drops significantly with the starter load on it, it's probably got one or more weak cells.