STARTING Merc 50 after fishing

[andrewkafp]

Took out my boat the other day (81 50HP 4cyl Merc). Anchored and fished for 40min.<br />Tried to start motor with no choke or bulb squeeze, and it didn't start straight away,<br />and after about 3 20 second cranking attempts, I turned the key to "start" and there was nothing.<br />No Solonoid click... Nothing..<br />So I checked the battery terminals, and hand tightened the wing nut and re-cranked.. off it went. No problems starting rest of the day.<br />Battery.. Good condition and fully charged. <br />I read somewhere, not to crank for long periods as this overheats the starter. Could it be that it started getting hot and shut down for a minute ? Or is my Ignition switch suspect, or maybe battery terminal not tight enough. They a re just wingnuts, hand tightened.<br />I am not concerened about the fact that it didn't start, as it was most likely me not choking or squeezing bulb as 40 minutes would have cooled it down considerably.

 

[The Marine Doctor]

Re: STARTING Merc 50 after fishing

Your problem is most likely linked to the fact that you hand tighten your battery cables.<br /><br />Use pliars or a wrench. Make sure they are tight.<br /><br />TMD

 

[andrewkafp]

Re: STARTING Merc 50 after fishing

Reckon you are dead right.. TMD..<br />My boating buddy (Wife) likes to be involved and is very organized and competent. She connected the battery and doesn't have quite as much wrist strength as me.. S/S Pliers will be the order of the day next time, I will install a kill switch, even better still to avoid the repeated connecting and disconnecting. Loose battery terminals wouldn't do the rectifier or other components any good either.<br />BTW Should have clicked, when the fishfinder turned itself off. Loose connection.