Won’t Turn Over

[dolfan1710]

2 times out 2 rows in argh. So 2 weeks ago I put my boat in the water, it started right up, like it does in the driveway and ran great for a little over an hour. We stopped to swim and when we went to move nothing happened when I turned the key. I got the boat home and removed the battery, suspected one of the nuts was loose, and it was 95% charged. Put it back in and the boat started right up again. Suspected a bad connection due to wing nuts so I replaced the with water witch terminals and real nuts. It started multiple times in the driveway and the first time I stopped but now nothing again. I bet it will start when I get home. Should I suspect the starter, maybe it loosens up from the bumps while towing the boat home?

 

[Bt Doctur]

If you mean womt turn over means the motor wont spin over then:
good connections at both ends of the battery cables
power to ign switch, do the gauges come alive
ign key itself bad in start position
corroded slave solenoid
bad neutral safety switch in the control box, wont allow cranking in gear
bad starter or starter solenoid

 

[dolfan1710]

Thanks! All accessories work fine. So this time the battery was only 71% charged. It’s a year only and I had it tested last week and they said it was fine.

 

[dolfan1710]

Question, is the 2nd most taxing accessory on the battery picking up the trim and trailering? I'm asking because this is also flaky for me. My mechanic has the boat and they are telling me they aren't having any trouble with it. I may need to attack this problem myself next week.

In an emergency can I run a jumper cable from the battery to the starter, assuming the battery has enough juice, to start the boat? Is this safe?

 

[Bondo]

In an emergency can I run a jumper cable from the battery to the starter, assuming the battery has enough juice, to start the boat? Is this safe?

Ayuh,...... Why not bring along a Test Light, so you can find the problem, 'n then fix the problem,..??..??

 

[dolfan1710]

I don’t have a lot of experience with this stuff but Imay have to troubleshoot it myself. I guess it needs to happen again first and it isn’t happening for my mechanic. This is frustrating, just trying to figure out a way in if it happens again.

 

[dolfan1710]

How do I access the ignition switch?