Bad starter?

[evanlaczi]

I have a 1998 Malibu response lx carb 350. Battery is showing 12 volts but won’t turn motor over. The starter seems to make a poping sound, is this a bad starter or what else may cause this. Thank you! Is there a way to test battery or starter? 

[justgary]

6 minutes ago, evanlaczi said:

I have a 1998 Malibu response lx carb 350. Battery is showing 12 volts but won’t turn motor over. The starter seems to make a poping sound, is this a bad starter or what else may cause this. Thank you! Is there a way to test battery or starter? 

12 Volts is pretty low.  Fully charge the battery and try again.  In the mean time while you wait for that battery to charge, you can remove a good battery from a car and try it in the boat.

[hawaiianstyln]

Starter Bendix might be stuck and not kicking forward to engage the flywheel.  Shoot some WD40 in the starter, then try having someone tap the starter with a hammer while trying to turn it over to see if you can free up the bendix (if that is what is wrong).  You should be at about 13.2 volts if that battery is fully charged?  Super easy to remove the starter (two bolts and some wires), so you could always bench test it with some jumper cables outside of the boat to see if the starter is performing as it should.

[Woodski]

If / when you pull the started, the big red cable is always hot, so disconnect the battery first.

[justgary]

1 hour ago, hawaiianstyln said:

Shoot some WD40 in the starter, then try having someone tap the starter with a hammer while trying to turn it over to see if you can free up the bendix (if that is what is wrong). 

Be very careful about tapping a modern (small diameter) starter with a hammer.  Do it gently.  The magnets in modern starters are very brittle, and will crack if you bang on the case too hard.

The most likely reason for a starter to have low power (assuming the battery is fully charged) is carbon buildup that begins to short out the commutator.  They are pretty easy to rebuild.