Motor wont start in the lake?

[bill stallings]

Buddy and I went to the lake today to fish.Boat would not start or even attempt to turn over.He took it home and hooked it up to the hose and muffs and it cranked right up.What would cause this?
Thanks!

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

I was going to say the 20 amp fuse was blown until you stated that it fired right up at home. Maybe a bad connection at or near the fuse, drive home shook it back into place. Hard to say for sure without inspection at time of it acting up.

 

[dew2]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

I'd clean the battery connections, the batt,and solinoid and starter.Then get back to the lake.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

what motor we talkin bout here?

At the lake, when he turned the key to "start", did you hear the solenoid "click", or no sound at all?

Do you remember hearing the choke solenoid engage when he activated the choke control?

Corrosion or loose connection is most likely either way.

If the choke worked then the fuse was ok but it could have been the neutral safety switch -- happens again, try jiggling the shift control.

Intermittent electrical gremlin can be tough to track down if you can't replicate the symptoms at home.

 

[boobie]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

I'll go along with the loose connection some place. Trailering it home probably changed something.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Was it in neutral at the lake ?
They won't crank if the shifter is in gear....thaTS A SIMPLE common error.

 

[bill stallings]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Guys ....my friend says it has been doing this for a while.When the key is turned on the engine spins and everything...just wont turn over.I want to ask again,,does the pressure from a set of muffs have anything to do with it starting in the yard vs at the lake? Does water pressure being forced by the muffs have any bearing on starting the engine?

 

[glengold]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Your motor will idle at a higher RPM due to the lack of back pressure when its on the hose. This won't effect starting. Your question is confusing... Turn over and spin mean the same thing to most of us.... Do you mean it won't fire...

You may want to read the Cold Start Procedure in the FAQ. I do that everytime, and usually I never have to crank it more than once. Your throttle should be set to fast idle in neutral, and you should "bump" the key when it sounds like its about to die, then it should rev up again then start to die, repeat process until it can idle on its own.

Knowing the year and hp of the motor would help tremendously.

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

go back to the lake with an inductive timing light to check for fire...I have had hard to start motors before that will not crank for a while then all of a sudden bang cranks right up..last one i had like that I had to replace power pack and timer base. but could be a simple kill switch wire grounding out from bad key switch or kill switch or skin in wire. ..i am skipping the simple stuff I hope you have already tested... you have a short somewhere most likely...could be wiring or an electronic component. or if your starter is not turning motor fast enough it will not fire.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Im a bit confused now, which isnt hard to do by the way, lol

Originally you said that it wouldnt turn over, which is a quite different problem than not starting, but turning over.

To answer your question, yes starting on the muffs, and starting on the lake under water are quite different. Just because it will start on the muffs does not mean that it will start on the lake. Much easier to start on the muffs without any backpressure on the exhaust. Tell him to check for spark, to ensure it is properly firing on all cylinders. Depending on what motor we are talking about here will determine the distance the spark should jump with a bright blue ZAP!! on an inline tester.

When it is not starting, follow the steps provided in the FAQ entitled "Outboard Wont Start" and let us know what you find.

 

[dooma_Flatchy]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Back pressure is what I'm thinking...

 

[boobie]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Maybe I missed it, but I would still like to know the model # of the mtr??

 

[Jogin]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

When he turns the key does he push it in and hold it to prime it? does he do that when he cranks it? May also be something as simple as user error

 

[yoster]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Bill,
Just to avoid any confusion in your future posts, "Turning over" is the same thing as the "engine spinning" or "cranking the engine." If you say the engine won't "turn over" that essentially means that for whatever reason, the starter is not able to crank the engine. You go to start it and nothing, silence, engine doesn't do anything at all. It is not the same thing as the engine "catching" or "starting" which assumes that the engine is actually turning over and some type of internal combustion took place.

So we're all clear then, it sounds like your engine is indeed turning over while at the lake, it's just not catching at all or much less starting.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

We still don't know what motor we're talkin bout. Year and HP, and model # if you got it, please.

Backpressure is different, all right, but if it's got compression, spark and fuel it will start anyway in spite of the backpressure, it'll just die at idle. Unless it started right up again when he got it back home, then I wouldn't suspect that as being the problem here.

First, plug the emergency lanyard back in & try again.

Then, check for spark. Keep us posted.

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

without checking for spark while in the lake you will never begin to figure this out.

 

[boobie]

Re: Motor wont start in the lake?

Model # ???? We still don't know what we're working with here.....................