this is very simple.
I had a '70 johnson that did the same thing.

What happened is that the starting relay(aka solenoid) plunger was
bottoming out before the contacts were made. This was caused by wear
(arcing) of the contacts which had worn down over time. All I did was
take appart the solenoid and file off some of the lenght of the plunger
and then the contacts reliably made it.

Of course the proper answer is go buy a new solenoid, but this was
easier than getting in the car and driving down to the dealer.

These old ones are goodies but things do start to wear out.

Have fun.

Don


wrote:
Tom, I think the starter and solonoid relay are seperate. , it sounds
to me, though, that the drive needs some light oil ont he shaft, and/or
the drive has some burrs on the pinion gear, where the teath are
blunted. A new "bendix isn't expensive for that starter. I'd get one
through a parts store, instead of through a dealer. they can be had for
about half price that way.

To save gross humiliation, it could be that the battery is weak. Yep.
Oh it's good enough to crank the engine, but not good enough to really
hit the starter hard. These starters take quite a bit of power to
literally force the gear into place in the flywheel. To save public
humiliation, you might experiment at home with the battery/starter
demise, by putting the engine on the muffs, hook a boost or jumper
cables to the battery then hit the key and see if the drive pinion
doesn't engage properly., jut a wild shot that the extra boost will
make the starter work fine.

I'm thinking that after the engine has been run for a bit, that the
battery has gained a decent surface charge, so you get the extra
starter torque.

again, though, inspect the drive gear and the fly wheel to make sure
that the teeth arn't blunted, and are free from burrs. put some "2 in
1" or another light oil on the shaft as well.

Good luck!


Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On 13 Sep 2006 18:44:21 -0700, wrote:

I'd appreciate any insight on diagnosing / troubleshooting (list) if
this a circuit problem,
juice to the starter problem (need voltage numbers and how to check),
or if I have a bad starter motor (intermittently failing - how do you
check that - other than swap in a new part?)...etc. Has anyone
experienced this "cold" type of clicking behavior from the starter
motor?

It's most likely the solenoid which I believe is not a separate part
for that engine - it's integral to the starter, but I could be wrong
on that.

Just do the usual stuff - clean/check the connections, check the
battery cables, check the battery - maybe you have a deal cell or
similar, clean and tighten all connections.

If all is well to the starter connections, then it's most likely the
starter/solenoid combination.