intermittent starting problem

[red32131]

I have a 98 Vmax150 carb'd motor and am having an intermittent starting problem. Please help.

When I turn the key, the starter clicks but does not engage. The problem is not consistent, sometimes the motor will fire right up and run... other times, it takes me 5-6 times to get the starter to engage and fire the motor. Sometimes it will do this first thing in the morning, other times it waits till later in the day after fishing for a while and naturally, it will not repeat in the driveway!

So far, I have had the battery checked (good). Cleaned off cables that attach to the battery, made sure that all the electrical connections are connected, tightened and free of corrosion.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[wildkat7]

Have you checked the connections on the starter from the battery. Mine did this exact thing and turned out the connections on the starter were corroded.

[stratos195]

Sounds like the same issue I was just having. At random, it would not start and all I would get is clicking. I posted here and some guys told me to check the starter relay ground wire. I checked it and sure enough, that is all it was. The bolt that the ground wire for the relay was connected to had just a little loose.

[red32131]

I have checked all the wires for corrosion and just wiggled them to make sure that they were not loose. I didn't see anything moving. All of the connections still have corrosion protecting grease on the them. The only place I see corrosion was on the battery terminals, cleaned that up and still had the problem.

Stratos195,
Where did you find the Relay? I did not see one when I was checking connections yesterday. I saw what I would call a distribution block, 2 heavy wires coming in on one side and a couple wires coming off the back and going to the starter side of the motor.

[stratos195]

The relay was on the driver side of the boat. The two heavy wires came in, the ground connected to the starter and the hot connected to the relay, then another wire ran from the relay to the starter. Then there were two small wires also, one being the ground, it ran behind a bunch of wires and was just connected to a bolt. The bolt just rattled a bit loose. I tightened it and its good to go. The relay was next to the fuse box on my motor. I have an OX66 so it might be different from yours. Here is what the relay looks like.

[red32131]

Thank you,
I will have to look for that when I get home. I looked for a Relay but all I saw was what looked to me like a "Junction Box".

Thanks for the help.

[stratos195]

You should be able to locate it. Just find where the wires coming off of the starter and going to and it should take you right to it.

[red32131]

Well, I tracked the "Power lines" and did not find a Relay. I did find a bank of 3 what look to be solenoids. Everything is tight... think I may start by replacing the ignition switch and work my way back from there.

[xpress spanky]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by red32131 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Well, I tracked the "Power lines" and did not find a Relay. I did find a bank of 3 what look to be solenoids. Everything is tight... think I may start by replacing the ignition switch and work my way back from there.

</td></tr></table>
You found the starter relay rite there! The other 2 are your trim up and down solenoids. On my 115,the starter is the bottom one i think.

[ChrisH]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by red32131 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Well, I tracked the "Power lines" and did not find a Relay. I did find a bank of 3 what look to be solenoids. Everything is tight... think I may start by replacing the ignition switch and work my way back from there.

</td></tr></table>if the motor is clicking im sure your switch is good.

[red32131]

Ordered the Solenoid yesterday... Will install next week when it gets here. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

Thank you all for your help!

[skeeter202]

take a good set of jumper cables and hook negatie to battery andother negative to ground on starter , bet your ground is bad , also one more trick ,try cranking while trimming engine , if it cranks you have a wire bad in the loom .

[Papa basscat]

I had one do that once. It was sticking. I cleaned and lube it and problem solved.