Engine not starting!

[scruff]

Hi, hoping for a quick & easy solution here!

I have returned to my boat and found the engine won't start. The solinoid is clicking but the starter is not turning over.

The main battery is fully charged - unplugged From charger last night.

The engine was running fine the week before last weekend. What does the panel suggest the issue may be? It's also a new starter and solinoid at the beginning of the season.

It's an inboard diesel, kubota 12 if that's any help.

Thanks

 

[RichardS]

Remove, clean and retighten battery connections?

Richard

 

[VicS]

Remove, clean and retighten battery connections?

Richard

And the main connections on the solenoid.

And the negative connection at the enginie.

And the isolator switch

Could be a defective solenoid... will it crank if you short across its main terminals .. take care it might start

Engine does not have an earthing relay by any chance?

 

[scruff]

Thanks for that chaos. Will give those ideas a try and let you know...

 

[SAMYL]

Sounds like the starter is jammed some way or there is a failure in the power supply to it. Can you turn the engine over by hand to check if it is jammed by the starter or not?
Check that the battery is actually fully charged too, it could be duff.
Try shorting across the two solinoid terminals with a screwdriver to bypass the solinoid to see if that makes the starter engage.

 

[RichardS]

And the main connections on the solenoid.

And the negative connection at the enginie.

And the isolator switch

Could be a defective solenoid... will it crank if you short across its main terminals .. take care it might start

Engine does not have an earthing relay by any chance?

I was assuming that only the battery connections have been disturbed since last week but I take your point.

Richard

 

[VicS]

I was assuming that only the battery connections have been disturbed since last week but I take your point.

Richard

I agree battery terminals are thefirst to check.

BTW those green nylon pot scourers ( Scotchbrite etc) are good for cleaning battery terminals without removing any metal.

 

[scruff]

Curious & curiouser.... Cleaned the battery terminals with no difference. Have also tried bridging the terminals on the starter. There is a motor which kicks in but not turning over the engine.

Does the starter have two motors in it? There is no play in the stater motor mounting so I can't see how it's not engaging with the engine itself.

 

[sailorman]

Curious & curiouser.... Cleaned the battery terminals with no difference. Have also tried bridging the terminals on the starter. There is a motor which kicks in but not turning over the engine.

Does the starter have two motors in it? There is no play in the stater motor mounting so I can't see how it's not engaging with the engine itself.

does the starter motor have bendix gear that is sticking

 

[prv]

Have also tried bridging the terminals on the starter. There is a motor which kicks in but not turning over the engine.

Does the starter have two motors in it? There is no play in the stater motor mounting so I can't see how it's not engaging with the engine itself.

The solenoid kicks the pinion into mesh with the flywheel, the motor turns it. If you're bypassing the solenoid, then it will turn without engaging.

Pete

 

[pcatterall]

Do we understand that "bridging the starter terminals" has a different reaction to trying to start on the key?
The starter can whizz round but may not have the oomph to throw the gear thingy and engage the fly wheel so it could still be a bad connection.
If you switch a light on and try cranking does the light dim right down?
All the above suggestions are valid, you may find the solution by just working through all the connections. Can you reconnect the charger and try with it running.
I was amazed recently to find my car battery had 'failed' overnight, it was working fine then suddenly nothing at all, I thought there must be a bad connection or short but nothing found it had just given up the ghost with no warning.
Good luck

 

[earlybird]

does the starter motor have bendix gear that is sticking

Doubtful if it's a bendix, unless it's fairly old. My Kubota, (Beta) starter is pre-engaged. Energising the solenoid does 2 things:-
a) Push the pinion into engagement, ie pre-engage.
b) Close the electrical contactor for the starter motor.
Sounds as if its not working properly.

 

[scruff]

The solenoid kicks the pinion into mesh with the flywheel, the motor turns it. If you're bypassing the solenoid, then it will turn without engaging.

Pete

That makes sense, thanks. It gave me the cunning plan to turn key till solinoid clicked then by pass solinoid turning starter to in turn start engine.

It never worked. Now does not click at all, just hiss with the odd click.

Hope I've not goosed it, its only 2 months old and expensive!

 

[Appledore]

In the 2 years that I've had my replacement engine in the boat (Yanmar 1 gm 10), it never started properly. Always sounded like a flattish battery. I tried everything, including two batteries, and shortening the cables, but still it would only turn the engine over by use of the de-compressor lever.

I removed the starter motor and had it checked. It was not in good condition, so I bought a new one from a car supplier (less than half the cost of a Yanmar one!!), and the engine started immediately, first stab of the button! Went down last week, after 3 weeks away, and it started first stab again. So, it could be your starter motor is knackered! I would suggest removing it and having it tested before spending too much money, time and effort on anything that you haven't already tried.

Good luck.

Geoff

 

[Seajet]

A sharp tap on the solenoid housing with a spanner or similar can sometimes convince a sticky unit to behave...

If there's a lot of grease around on the solenoid clean it off and use good oil, I've known grease to clog up winches etc.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I have a really good maintenance DVD by PBO (I think I got it free in an old issue) presented by Seastart AIR. It deals with starter problems and demonstrates the operation of the Starter/solenoid. If you can get hold of it, it may solve your problem.

 

[vyv_cox]

There may be some confusion in the thread about 'bridging the solenoid'. What you need to do is remove the wire that comes from the starter switch to the solenoid. Then use a screwdriver or short length of wire to bridge the terminal that you have exposed and the main battery cable on the starter motor. This bypasses all the wiring of the starter switch in case there is a problem there. Solution well known to old VW owners, in which the wiring between engine and driver seems to increase in resistance over the years.

 

[NickRobinson]

hissing....

That makes sense, thanks. It gave me the cunning plan to turn key till solinoid clicked then by pass solinoid turning starter to in turn start engine.

It never worked. Now does not click at all, just hiss with the odd click.

Hope I've not goosed it, its only 2 months old and expensive!

Dirty/loose battery terminals can hiss and make the starter give occasional clicks... next time you try, cop a feel of the terminals/cables for warm/hot (careful!) bits....

Nick

 

[pcatterall]

Yes Nick a hiss sounds almost hopeful!! locate the hiss and you find the problem!!
Is the starter very difficult to remove? Why was it changed ? I had no end of starter problems on one boat. Turned out to be water getting into the bell housing then thrown up into the starter gear.

 

[scruff]

The starter motor was replaced over the winter as I was giving the engine an overhaul. New starter & serviced injectors.

I am a little confused over what terminals I should be bridging.

I have 2 stud connectors and a spade. The spade is, I think the positive connection from the switch. Top stud is big negative (black wire) from battery.
The second stud has nothing connected to it.

I have been bridging the heavy black stud and the bare stud to bypass the solinoid. Doing this starts the motor but does not engage with engine.

What terminals do I bridge to both get motor running and engaged?

All this help is much appreciated.