The problem reoccurred, so he pulled the starter. Guess what! The
battery lead was nearly burned in half, but you couldn't have seen it
because it was routed behind the engine. The starter's bendix gear also
showed heavy rust. We replaced both and all is well.

Capt. Frank

Capt. Frank Hopkins wrote:

I was down to the dock today, and one of my neighbors was having a fit
with his Searay 27. When he tried to turn the port engine over, all the
power in the boat would die. No lights, no electronics, no nothing. We
checked the batteries, checked the grounds and positive battery leads,
cleaned them and made sure the engine side connections were tight.

Same deal. Turn the key and the boat goes dark. Ok, lets try a different
approach. We turned the key for the starboard engine, it fires up right
away. No problems. All power is on and the stereo is playing merrily.

Turn key for port engine, something in the engine room makes a hell of a
chattering noise, the engine starts! The problem has not reoccurred in
half a dozen re-starts on the portside only system.

Anyone want to take a guess? It has both of us baffled.

Capt. Frank