Anyone have experience with used Marine stores, locally or online?
Feel my starter on my electric start 25hp is going. Every once in a while it’ll just clunk when started, as if no juice. I’d say 1 out of every 5-6 starts. Really random, some trips not at all, others 3-4x. Had battery tested, cleaned off all connections. Haven’t checked under the hood yet for loose connections yet. Feel I should at least have it onhand for some cold fishing ahead.
Local Marine shop had new over $175. 
Had a good experience with this company a while ago.
Sounds more like a starter solenoid then the actual starter. Most are pretty universal from any parts store. If it would be the starter I would take it in and have it rebuilt.
I put a new starter on my 115 merc a couple of years ago.iirc,it was about $100. Got it from motor city rebuilds, that was for a new one. Works great!
It’s motor city reman.com.sorry!
before you blame the starter,check your grounds thoroughly, and I mean unbolting the connectors at each end,if you can,peel some of the insulation back away from the connection,if you see corrosion on the outside of the wire braid,replace the entire cable.
electricity travels around the outside of each wire in the braid,not through the wire itself,so you end up with high resistance.
if you see where there is evidence of arching at the connector,usually black fleck looking spots,and or corrosion,clean those.
the switch can be suspect also,are you turning the key the same amount of distance each time??? try different key positions to see if you can replicate the issue.
it could also be a neutral switch problem,rock the shift lever when it does this,does this clear it up?
to test the solenoid,jump it at the terminal marked (s) be careful here,depending on how its wired,that terminal may be grounded when the key is engaged,usually the case when volatile fumes are involved in a closed environment,(like an outboard motor when gas fumes can be present.) use a test lite here to verify.
the bad part is that it is an occasional problem,and they can be the worst until you have a complete failure.
if you need further help,pm me, I work on this stuff everyday.
Few months ago forgot to put oring on fuel screen, which caused the bottom of engine to flood with gas. The pic is a bolt that’s attached to starter by bare wire and connection on case was full of oil, and loose.
But question is seems there was some rubber cement around the bolt and wire, and the bolt is what connected to secure the fuel line intake. Did the gas/oil breakdown the rubber on connection causing issues, or the coating whatever it is, dont matter and cleaning and retightening bolt is the ticket?
IMG_20151010_145138718_HDR.jpg
Where it connects to starter…
1444507992121903064270.jpg
looks like the gas broke down the sealant that protects that connection.
that small wire is an extra ground in case you were to loose the main ground,and prevent the starter from grounding through the remaining wires,and the throttle cable and burning them up,and it grounds the motor to the case as your cowling sits on rubber mounts.
if that cures the problem,then you are not getting good ground to the engine itself,if memory serves me,there should be at least an eight gauge wire coming from the main ground to the engine case where the main wire is bolted,check it out.
I have seen where the starter mounts to its bracket get corroded,and lose ground there,keep in mind,that bracket bolts to the engine also,and it could be corroded,so in effect,you have four places to lose ground.
ie, 1:battery cable to case,2:case to engine block,3:block to bracket,4:bracket to starter,and of course the battery itself.
they can be a bugger to find sometimes,has this motor ever been submerged?? if so,how long??
the easy way to prove it is a ground issue is to run a heavy gage jumper from the battery to the starter,then proceed from there,let me know.
Thank you very much for your replies.
I checked out the whole engine compartment and not a loose wire or bolt other than that one, and not a speck of corrosion on anything. Bought it from a family friend who is very meticulous, 1st owner and would have told me if it was submerged, which it wasn’t.
So do I need to recement that connection? Or just tighten up? I already took the bolt out and cleaned up the area with degreaser.
Always needed a good reason to buy a voltmeter. Seems a good of time if any to help the situation. Lots of vids online for testing starters but all those engines are gigantic and haven’t found anything specific for lower hp mid 90’s models to know what kind of numbers to look for.
I’m not opposed to just buying a new starter and solenoid just hate to waste money on stuff that could just get fixed.
go ahead and tighten it up,like I said,if that fixes it,you have another problem elsewhere,but its better than burning up what you have left.
if you have an o’rielleys near by,they sell seloc manuals specific to model year and horsepower,around fifteen bucks here.
but you can still pm,me or post it here,happy to be of any help I can offer.
let me know what happens
If you should need a new starter I wouldnt reccomend an aftermarket replacement.Get original oem.I had issues before with starters,after the original burntout I went aftermarket and replaced one each year,one lasted me six months if that.Went and bought an used oem from a guy and It lasted a couple years.Oem are twice the cost new but in the end less hassle and dowmtime
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
