Re: Slow cranking 1995 force 120?
So, I got the boat a few months ago, all has been fine. All of a sudden it cranks really slow. I thought it was the battery so I replenished the charge but still slow. Its still fires up just takes a few. its slow but once it fires it runs fine. when I take the plugs out it cranks much faster. any ideas?
Basically, there are five major parts for the starting system: (1) Starter motor, (2) Starter solenoid, (3) Battery, (4) Positive Cable from battery to solenoid and then from solenoid to starter motor and (5) grounding of starter motor and ground cable from battery to ground bolt. Of course, there is also the starter switch and associated wiring which I consider minor parts. From the 5 major parts you can easily do a process of elimination to troubleshoot your problem. You can either eliminate one major part one at a time or eliminate a group of major parts one at a time. By jumpering the battery cable straight (both pos and neg) to the starter (trying to eliminate a group of major parts) and the starter operates properly, it tells you the battery and starter are good while the cabling and solenoid could be at fault. But if the starter didn't operate properly, then either the battery or the starter is at fault. you can eliminate the battery by jumpering it with a known good battery (which is easier than trying to replace the starter unless you have a spare one sitting around).
Jumpering only the battery pos straight to the starter and the starter operates properly tells you also the neg grounding is also good (in addition to the preceding test where the starter and battery are found to be good). Next move the jumper from the starter (while keeping the other end connected to battery's pos terminal) to the load side (bolt that connects a cable to starter, NOT THE ONE CONNECTED TO THE BATTERY THIS IS THE SOURCE SIDE) of the solenoid. And if the starter operates properly, it tells you the cable from the solenoid to the starter is also good. If the starter didn't work properly then the said cable is faulty or needs to be cleaned and tightened.
Next move the jumper to the source side of the solenoid, and then turn the key switch to the "Start" position, if the starter operates properly, then the solenoid is good which means the cabling from the battery's pos terminal to the solenoid needs to be investigated. However, if the starter didn't operate properly, the solenoid needs to be investigated. But before doing so since the key switch could also be faulty (which is unlikely in your case), get another jumper or smaller jumper wires and jumper between the coil terminal (smaller screw post or bolt) of the solenoid to the source side (where you have the battery jumpered to) of the solenoid. If the starter didn't turn over or did not hear a loud click from the solenoid, the solenoid needs to be replaced. Or if you hear a loud click but the starter did not turn over, then the solenoid needs to be investigated. The loud click tells you the armature coil of the solenoid still works but that the main contacts (inside of the unit) could be worn out or melted out which prevents full contact thus unable to provide full current to the starter.
