Starting Issues

"I have a MerCruiser 4.3l V6 B

"I have a MerCruiser 4.3l V6 Bravo I/O in an 05 Tahoe Q4. Here is the problem i'm having:

Motor will start just fine at the house. Get on the water and it starts fine. Drive around for a bit, turn off sit around for a bit anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. When i go to start back up I turn the key... get the buzzer... and nothing else. And by nothing else I mean just that... Nothing else. no clicking, ticking, cranking, turnover... None of that.

Here's what i've tried/done:

Checked all connectivity of wiring, everything is secure, kill switch is in appropriate position, all fuses and circuit breaker are as should be. I have disconnected the wiring harness separated the male prongs slightly (per mercury mechanic), put di-electric grease in wire harness and made sure wire harness is VERY secure.

Everyone mechanic i've talked to points me to the wire harness, however, i don't believe that is what is causing the problem. Anyone else have any ideas?"

I had a problem like that. And

I had a problem like that. And I tried everything like you did.
So I had a Machanic look at it.
Heck it cost me $80. just to have him come out and put some Elc. testers on it. The next thing he did was clip a inch off of both Battery cables and then he put the clamps back on.
I haven't had a problem sense. Good Luck
Hope yours is that simple. Joe w

"Tyler:

Your problem appear

"Tyler:

Your problem appears to be a heat related electrical problem. Remove, clean and reattach all the ground cables on the engine block and battery and the positive battery cable on both ends. The battery could have an internal plate connector cracked that vibrations open the crack and that kills the entire battery until it cools off or another bump makes contact.

It happened to my van once and the dealer kept telling me the computer tested it AOK. He just happened to be standing there when it would not start or even click. Replaced the battery and all was good.

Have you tried to jumper the ignition switch. It may be defective. Jump the large RED wire to the YELLOW w/RED STRIPE with the iginition switch in the run position which turns on the slave solenoid. The slave selenoid could also be going out intermittently. You can jumper around it too by shorting the top studs together for a moment with the iginition switch in the run position."

"Thank you both for your respo

"Thank you both for your responses. You both pointed out battery - new battery - still have the same problem.

I shall try disconnecting the grounds and ensuring there is no corrosion and reconnecting and such.

While I was out this past weekend it occurred. As usual i ensured each and every wire i could put my hand on was secure, tight and snug. Still nothing. This time after after tinkering with it for over an hour i got fed up and said "im going to do what a real mechanic does... start hitting sh** til it starts" The first thing i hit on was the distributor cap... Sure thing... fired right up.

Which leads me to this: Im not a mechanic at all, but I can do enough work to get me into trouble. Once i got it home i removed that cap and inspected inside. The nodes on the cap have some greenish corrosion on them, which i'll clean, and the rotor/sensor wheel look fine to me. Nothing visibly out of the norm with them.

Falling back on the possibility of a heat related issue. If it were a heat issue wouldn't it not start right after its been shut down after running for a while... I.e. cruise arround for 30 minutes, turn off - immediately restart --**nothing. In my instance its left sitting not running for 15+ minutes allowing it time to cool down for a few. This weekend it was left alone for two hours and wouldn't restart........


sorry so wordy!!"

"if you can get it to happen a

"if you can get it to happen at your house or on a trailer another thing that you can try is to go to your local parts store and buy a remote start trigger, and next time that it happens hook it up to your starter and see if it turns over, if it doesn't turn over then your starter is failing and needs to be replaced.. if it turns over fine then it is related to your wiring in some way, start checking your solenoid, ignition, and so on. just start eliminating all of the wearable parts involved in starting the motor..."

"I have a similar problem, I h

"I have a similar problem, I have a 2000 Mercruiser 3.0, Monday while trying to take the boat out, it started then died. not uncommon. then all would get was a click when turning the key. This has happened in the past so I took the battery cables off cleaned all the connections and she fired right up.

this time still just a click. I tried to jump the starter with a screwdriver and it sounds like it spinning really fast but not engaging. did this with the key in the on position. what should be my next attempt to get working? I would hate to have to have a mechanic come out for something really simple"

sounds like the bendix is eith

sounds like the bendix is either bound up and not engaging or your are missing teeth. pull the starter and check it out before buying a new starter..

"Ty:

When you shut off an e

"Ty:

When you shut off an engine after a hard run the engine temp actually rises briefly due to the loss of engine cooling.

Check the vent on the dist. cap for blockage. Also, pull of the rotor and look underneath it for more corrosion. Rotor was locktited in place at the factory; may have to use a vice grips or chisel to split the plastic and then replace it."