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Boat will not start


durrettsyndrome

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Ok so its getting nice out and im wanting to get my boat ready to go. Ok so i charge up my battery that has been sitting in my garage and spray come carb cleaner into the carb and go to start....it tries to turn over for about 2 seconds then stops. I try again and nothing as if the battery had no power. The bilge and blower would turn on if i turned the knob but the radio wont turn on and the horn is very quiet. The kill switch has the plastic covering it so its not that. Keep in mind i was just trying to start it up for a minute and not run it. I did not hook a hose up to it and fake a lake it. The boat ran fine before i drained the water out of it in October and now it wont start.

Just something else...I started it a couple of times in sept and oct for like 4 minutes to get the fluids throught the boat without hooking any wated up to it. The boat never overheated. Also, The checkengine light comes on but its interminent and was doing that last year but ran perfect. I have no idea what it could be. Thanks for the info.

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Ok so its getting nice out and im wanting to get my boat ready to go. Ok so i charge up my battery that has been sitting in my garage and spray come carb cleaner into the carb and go to start....it tries to turn over for about 2 seconds then stops. I try again and nothing as if the battery had no power. The bilge and blower would turn on if i turned the knob but the radio wont turn on and the horn is very quiet. The kill switch has the plastic covering it so its not that. Keep in mind i was just trying to start it up for a minute and not run it. I did not hook a hose up to it and fake a lake it. The boat ran fine before i drained the water out of it in October and now it wont start.

Just something else...I started it a couple of times in sept and oct for like 4 minutes to get the fluids throught the boat without hooking any wated up to it. The boat never overheated. Also, The checkengine light comes on but its interminent and was doing that last year but ran perfect. I have no idea what it could be. Thanks for the info.

Your impeller is probably burned up and broken into a million tiny peices.

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Did you test the battery..? Check the connections etc? Also check the throttle to be sure it's in neutral in case it is the neutral switch

Dude.. don't run your boat w/out water, there is nothing to lubercate your impeller - :unsure:

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The temperature gauge won't show that the engine is overheating if there is no water in the engine. It reads water temperature, and you didn't have any water in the engine. Four minutes is pretty long to run with absolutely no water in the engine.

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The temperature gauge won't show that the engine is overheating if there is no water in the engine. It reads water temperature, and you didn't have any water in the engine. Four minutes is pretty long to run with absolutely no water in the engine.

Doesn't the temperature gage read the Oil temperature? I'd go for the battery or bad connection because you say the stereo and horn don't work either. Clean your terminale and the connection poles on the battery cables. if not that, bring another battery and try to jump start it if you do not want to buy a battery for nothing.

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Cooling these things with water is over-rated Crazy.gif

Consider yourself lucky. This guy ran his boat out of the water for 4.5 minutes Crazy.gif

thats why i always use a water hose when i start the motor out of the water. :)Biggrin.gif

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The temperature gauge won't show that the engine is overheating if there is no water in the engine. It reads water temperature, and you didn't have any water in the engine. Four minutes is pretty long to run with absolutely no water in the engine.

Doesn't the temperature gage read the Oil temperature? I'd go for the battery or bad connection because you say the stereo and horn don't work either. Clean your terminale and the connection poles on the battery cables. if not that, bring another battery and try to jump start it if you do not want to buy a battery for nothing.

The temp guage is a water temp guage. Also, sounds like a bad cell (or two) on the battery. Go have it tested, I'll bet their scanner recommends replacement.

And 4 minutes running without water probably melted your impeller. My impeller cover gets warm to the touch after about 5 seconds with no water. You'll need to replace that for sure.

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One way to test a bad connection is to touch the battery cables near the battery terminals. A bad connection will cause the cables to heat up.

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im just going to buy a new battery and impeller. I have a 98 malibu sportster lx with a Indmar 310HP Vortec 350ci. Does anyone knwo where i can order an impeller for this motor? Are they really that hard to install?

Also, when i run my motor with a garden hose hooked up, can i use the faucet turned on or do i need to use like a gallon jug of water? Thanks everyone.

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Does anyone know where i can order an impeller for this motor? Are they really that hard to install?
Piece of cake on a Sporty. Pick one up at just about any boat dealer / marine store. Johnson #09-812B-1. They're around $30 no matter where you buy them.
Also, when i run my motor with a garden hose hooked up, can i use the faucet turned on or do i need to use like a gallon jug of water?
Use the water spigot...it will deliver enough water to idle the boat as long as you don't have really clogged up old pipes.
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It's pretty much the forward most point on your engine, hanging off the front of your crankshaft, with two hoses attached to it (one from the lake water pickup, another looping back around to the transmission cooler.

Once you get the impeller and see the size of it, it will probably help you find it on the engine...

Edited by rts
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We drug our 99 Sunsetter LXI out of storage to put in the marina today. Brought it to the house first to make sure it would start, etc. Battery charged up, when we turned the key there was nothing other than the gauges starting up. At the end of the season we were stranded out in the lake when the same thing happened. We even tried jumping it with another boat and it would not do anything. It is like it is not sending a message to the starter. We replaced the ignition switch and the safety switch at the end of the season after being stranded and the boat started but today it is doing the same thing. Do you think it could be the neutral switch? Thanks.

Ok so its getting nice out and im wanting to get my boat ready to go. Ok so i charge up my battery that has been sitting in my garage and spray come carb cleaner into the carb and go to start....it tries to turn over for about 2 seconds then stops. I try again and nothing as if the battery had no power. The bilge and blower would turn on if i turned the knob but the radio wont turn on and the horn is very quiet. The kill switch has the plastic covering it so its not that. Keep in mind i was just trying to start it up for a minute and not run it. I did not hook a hose up to it and fake a lake it. The boat ran fine before i drained the water out of it in October and now it wont start.

Just something else...I started it a couple of times in sept and oct for like 4 minutes to get the fluids throught the boat without hooking any wated up to it. The boat never overheated. Also, The checkengine light comes on but its interminent and was doing that last year but ran perfect. I have no idea what it could be. Thanks for the info.

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Another possible culprit would be your cannon plug. I had some similiar intermittant issues and messing with the plug cured them.

Its a large plug that pretty much all the electronics from the engine connect to the boat with. It's about 2" or so in diameter. Held together by a hose clamp.

Disconnect it and you'll see several pins on the male side. Make sure they are not corroded or anything, then VERY SLIGHTLY bend the male pins, but not so much that you can't reconnect the plug. Adding some fresh dielectric compound would be nice too. I used a small flathead screwdriver to slightly bend the pins.

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Ditto what rts said. My boat would occasionally stall and/or not restart. Unplugging and replugging and securing the clamp solved it. I didn't separate the prongs in the plug, but will if I have further issues.

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That was the cause of my instrument problems, and a good call. Just make sure you put it back together the way it came apart. I now have mine marked where the two parts mate because I managed to put it back together out of the original pin alignment, and my fuel pump started running with the key off, so I knew something was wrong.

Edited by electricjohn
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I think i found the impeller on my motor. Is it about 6 inches in diam. with a cover with about 6 flat head screws holding the cover in place?

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I think i found the impeller on my motor. Is it about 6 inches in diam. with a cover with about 6 flat head screws holding the cover in place?
I'm not home this week (traveling for work) so I can't take a pic. The raw water intake pump on a Sporty has 4 small cover bolts. The pump is almost directly behind the pylon. In fact, the top and bottom bolts cannot be removed with a screwdriver because of the pylon, you'll have to use a wrench on those two bolts. The cover plate is approximately 4" in diameter.

I'll be home on Friday and can get pic's then if you still need them. Good luck. Thumbup.gif

Edited by NorCaliBu
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