Dodgy Starting

[SteveGorst]

Our boat has an intermittant problem with starting. When we come to the end of the sail and come to starting the engine we find there is no sign of life at the control panel when we turn the key, no lights, no beeping nothing. All the other instruments on the boat are working fine. After frantically turning the key backwards and forwards a few times however the ignition light comes on and we get the beeping sound. On turning the key the engine starts ok.

This has happened to us a couple of times now and we are obviously concerned that one day it will not start. Our suspicion is a dodgy ignition barrel rather than the whole control panel.

Two things, Does this sound like a reasonable assumption and if so where would be a good place to obtain a new barrel for a 1983 Volvo BD5C 10Hp.

Any help appreciated.

Steve



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[yoda]

Yes, Try ASAP marine on the web, may be a lot cheaper than Volvo partif they doa suitable part.

Yoda

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[John7]

Iv just come back from a week where we had the same problem a number of times. On my Yanmar if there was no power to the control panel it meant lack of power not the switch was the problem. French Marine suggested directly joining the two wires, the input and switch output, together (just using a nut and bolt did it, with the powere off when working) but as in my case lack of power was the problem that didn’t get any where. From that experience I would suggest using a mult-imeter and ensuring there is power at the point where the panel is wired to at the engine. Fix the mult-imeter to somewhere on the return side and trace the wiring back to ensure that’s OK. Its also worth doing a continuity test to rule that out. When doing these flex the cables, I found my main cable was dead but when I flexed cables going into my main power switch contact was OK. By tracking back, I think, I located the problem as the power out connection on the main switch which has three cables, the main power to the starter, second to the instrument switch panel and a third to a Sterling regulator, these appeared tight. I cleaned them, used contact grease and tighten up really well and so far I haven’t had the problem and moving the cables no longer causes interruptions on the readings.

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[Evadne]

I agree it sounds like a bad connection somewhere. I had similar symptoms a few years ago on my Yanmar, turned out to be the terminal connection to the battery. I cleaned it and greased it and away it went. If you check all joints starting at the battery terminals and finishing at the astarter motor and it still hasn't gone away, then start suspecting items like the ignition switch, but not before.


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[Bodach na mara]

It's not a dodgy barrel. The barrel only acts to mechanically conect the key to the switch so that only the correct key will turn it. In once had barrel trouble but the problem then was that any flat object would turn it and when you took the key out the barrel came too. From your description it seems most likely that the switch is the problem but take the advice of the other posts and check all other connections first.

If you do need a new switch, asap or Lucas are possible sources, but you will need to know what type you want, i.e. how many positions? Most diesels use a four position switch but if you have no heaters, you can get away with three.
I've just looked at the asap catalog and they do two ranges of switches, A Lucas type and another that may be more weather-proof.


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[SteveGorst]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've had a look at the asap site and the prices look reasonable. As the fault is so intermittant I wouldn't really know if cleaning the connections had worked until it failed again in an awkward situation. I think I'll do both, clean the connections and change the switch then I should be less apprehensive at turning the key.

I'll have to take the old one off to check but I think the following switch should do it on the ASAP site STARTER SWITCH SPADE TYPE 3 POSITION at £36.37? It's a shame they don't have pictures.

Cheers
Steve

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