93 5.4 Mercruiser starting problems
 

I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!

Slow cranking on one engine in a dual setup with good batteries is
probably a ground issue. Clean the ground points on the affected engine
block and retry.
To test: using a digital volt meter, touch one probe to the negative
battery terminal, and the other to the affected engine. Be sure you have
good contact. A reading of more than .1V indicates high resistance and
thus significant voltage drop when cranking. You can perform the same
test on the positive side, connecting to the B+ starter terminal and
positive battery terminal.
If all tests are nominal, you might have a shorted starter armature, or
possibly the engine is partially seized.
JR

KSB-VA wrote:
I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!



--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

Starter, cable, connection.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com
"KSB-VA" wrote in message
ups.com...
I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!

An idea ... not a pleasant one though. If the electrical checks out (e.g.
starter connections, maybe swap starters) remove the plugs and check for
water in the cylinders from a bad riser/gasket.

"KSB-VA" wrote in message
ups.com...
I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!

Typo.. They are 5.7's not 4's :)

On 21 Mar 2005 13:27:18 -0800, "KSB-VA"
wrote:

I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!

Could also be water in the engine (cylinders). I had one do that while
motoring in Venice.

I agree with checking the connections...mainly the grounds.
The vast majority of oddball electrical problems are ground related.
"KSB-VA" wrote in message
ups.com...
I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!

Take the starter to the local decent autoparts store and have them test it.
Chevy starters used to short out the armature and suck lots of current and
turn very slow. You can take a broken hacksaw blade and clean the armature
slots to fix the problem at times.
Bill

"bomar" wrote in message
...
I agree with checking the connections...mainly the grounds.
The vast majority of oddball electrical problems are ground related.
"KSB-VA" wrote in message
ups.com...
I had problems starting my starboard engine the other day. Port engine
started fine. I had a full charge on all batteries and even used the
emergency switch to pull from all batteries to try and start the
starboard engine. Still no luck. It turns over very slowly but not
enough to start. Sounds like a low battery but they are fully charged.
Maybe the starter either bad or not connected properly? Any ideas?

thanks!!!