Bad starter?
 

Boat has been setting a couple years. Charged up battery, tried to start but just get a clicking noise coming from a relay on top of the motor. Jumped the solenoid and I hear it spinning but the motor does not turn over. Bad starter? Anything I should try before removing starter? Also, is this relay thing bad too? Shouldn't it have spun the starter instead of just clicking? Thanks for any help.

Re: Bad starter?
 

I just had the same issue with mine. I would try it for several minutes...playing with the controller and then it woud just fire.

I am not sure if its my starter or not. If so...whats it cost??

sorry I am not much help:confused:

Re: Bad starter?
 

Yeah, sounds like both a bad starter and a bad starter relay.

Jim

Re: Bad starter?
 

Is it going *click*, but the starter doesn't operate? If so: Sounds like a bad starter relay.

But you should also check your battery connections, the connections to the starter relay, and between the starter relay and starter. A poor connection in any of those can cause the symptoms you're describing.

Jim

Re: Bad starter?
 

Btw: Be careful when messing-about with the starter relay and starter. I don't know about Mariahs, but many, if not most, starting circuits have no fusing. So if something gets itself connected to ground, it could well weld itself in place and you could have a wiring and battery melt-down, perhaps a fire.

Jim

Re: Bad starter?
 

Disconnect the negative terminal on the battery, before tightening any other connections. ;) Hook it up again when you are certain everything else is tight.

Re: Bad starter?
 

Thanks for the information and tips. I will pull the starter off it tonight and see which one it is exactly. I believe I can get a new one online for around 170.00, but there is an alternator and starter repair shop here that can rebuild it for $45.00. What do you guys think?

Re: Bad starter?
 

After you pull it off, check to see if there is any corrosion on the small gear or the shaft it rides on. A few years of just sitting around could be the problem...

Is so, give it a few squirts of oil and see if you can't free it up. If you have a set of booster cables, see if you cant get it working off of a spare battery. You never know...

If that doesnt work, then the rebuild shop sounds like a good option, provided you don't have to wait 3 or 4 weeks. Summer is too short. ;)

Re: Bad starter?
 

That"s what I was thinking too about it may just be "stuck" from sitting. The repair shop can have it done the same day (Monday) so the down time is much less. I will probably have them rebuild it either way just to make sure all is good. $45.00 is a cheap insurance policy to make sure we don't get stuck on the lake.

Re: Bad starter?
 

Sounds like a good plan. :wink_thumbup: