Boat Won't Start

[james yarosz]

Have someone hold the key in the start position and tap the starter with a hammer.Has the starter ever been under water?

[larry_arizona]

Have someone hold the key in the start position and tap the starter with a hammer.Has the starter ever been under water?

This!!! Also if the starter has a piggyback solenoid, you can try jumpering the solenoid with a screw driver.


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[weldingza]

Funny you say that, my bilge didn't kick on the last time we were out and the starter was under water for a period of time until I got the bilge working. about 20-30 minutes or so. I just did the jumper on the starter solenoid, and the starter ran. But it didn't actually engage with the engine to start the boat...Does that mean the solenoid is faulty as its not engaging?

[weldingza]

Genius, fellas! The hammer trick worked! I am guessing that if the solenoid doesn't engage then it wont even attempt to turn over. I hit it with the hammer and heard the solenoid engage then it turned over just fine. All of that said, I can get it running to finish the winterization process, but what should I fix/replace? The whole starter? Just the solenoid? Rebuild something? Thanks again for all the help, I can finally sleep now!

[larry_arizona]

If you submerged the starter, I would replace it.


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[sandm]

had same issue on our '12 tige. bang with the hammer and work.
if it was my coin and peace of mind, I'd replace whole starter. never cared on a car as it's not hard to push start or use AAA but out on the water and especially out west where cell service is hit or miss, I'd replace the whole unit.

[weldingza]

Now that she is laid up for the winter, I will pull the starter out and do an overhaul on it and/or buy a new one if that doesn't seem to work. Thanks for saving me from wasting my money at the stealership on this one!

[james yarosz]

The hammer trick will only work so many times.The starter needs to come out and be rebuilt or replaced.