Have purchased a brand new starting battery which is fully charged. Had the starter overhauled by a local alternator/starter service. Got everything in place but when I turn on the ignition, it just "clicks".
At this point I'm guessing high resistance in the wiring, but would hate to replace it to find out I'm wrong. Any tips on how to isolate the source of this problem.
This is a '85 mkI with just under 1000 hrs on the motor. Well maintained, but "magically" stopped working about a month ago.
Regards,
Maze
—
1985 Catalina 36 Tall #404
s/v Peace of Mind
Austin, Tx.
If by 'high resistance' you mean infinity, I would agree. Sounds to me like there is a gross error/fault somewhere. The 'clicking' you hear is the starter solenoid.
Your troubleshooting steps include (a) with a voltmeter, test the incoming lug on the starter solenoid for 12 vdc; if present, that's good; (b) have someone push the start button and use the voltmeter to check for 12 vdc on the output lug of the solenoid; if 12 vdc is there during the button push, that's good; (c) check for voltage present on the incoming lug of the starter; if there when start button is pushed, that's good; (d) remove the starter and have your local O/H company bench test it with 12 volts on the start lug (or, heck, you could do that yourself, preferably on the dock, not playing around with 'hot' 12 volt jumper cables in the boat).
That's about it.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Hummm, only have the 12v main connector to the solenoid and the "S" connector from the starter switch to engage it all. As mentioned, the starter/solenoid were just rebuilt this week. Shorting the "S" connector to the main 12v cable on the solenoid causes "clicks" and the engine "attempts" to turn over but only moves less than an inch of rotation.
I'm considering a "hot pack" directly to the solenoid/starter unit (they are one unit) just to see if it will turn over by bypassing the hot lead from the starting battery. If so, it must be a cable problem. The only other option, is something is restricting the engine from turning over even though I can manually move the flywheel by hand so its not locked up.
I don't know, this is crazy strange. What I do know is its driving me nuts, this should be easy..... go figure :(
Maze
1985 Catalina 36 Tall #404
s/v Peace of Mind
Austin, Tx.
It sounds like the starter is getting power and the solenoid is working and it is engaging the ring gear as it should. What size is the wiring to the starter motor? The earlier Catalinas have grossly undersized wiring, 4 AWG is not enough for a starting motor IMHO and that's what a lot of them have, our 1990 28 had over 40 feet of 4 AWG in the run to the starter motor and the voltage drop caused exactly what you are describing. Any kind of poor connections on top of that and you're not getting the amps you need. New battery/new starter can't overcome that problem, only beefier and shorter wire runs will solve it, if that's the problem.
Any chance a loose or poor ground?
Gary Bain
S/V "Gone With The Wind"
Catalina 36', Hull #: 1056, Year: 1990, Engine: M-35
Standard Rig
Moored: Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Home: Auburn, Maine
Gary's right. Larry's Old Rule Of Electronics, proven on everything from aircraft systems to Lotus sports cars: if the problem is really, really weird, the cause is likely a bad ground. In this instance, maybe the O/H shop put a nice new coat of paint on the starter housing and it's not making clean metal-to-metal contact with the engine block (or does it have a dedicated ground lug?).
Another question, how good was the overhaul? Can you return the starter to them and have them bench check it?
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Check the ground lug to the engine. Then also check the fuseholder to the starter solenoid.
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
My engine would click and attempt to turn about an inch or two at the flywheel before stopping when it was hydrolocked....
Does it turn over when you open the decompression lever?
Jason V
Vancouver, BC, Canada