05 40 horse 4 stroke outboard no start

"Hi. I've been having tro

"Hi. I've been having trouble starting my little outboard. When I turn the ignition I hear the starter relay click but that's all. I took the starter off and applied 12 vdc to it and would not turn so I had it rebuilt. Now it spins like crazy. I put it back on with same results. Click, click, click. I now have the starter relay off and intend on having it checked tomorrow. The battery appears strong (tilts the engine like no tomorrow) could it still be the battery even though it tilts fine? How do I check a start relay? What else could it be?

Tx,
Dale."

check battery conections

check battery conections

Hi thanks. As far as I can te

Hi thanks. As far as I can tell the connections are clean and tight. Could a weak ignition system produce the symptoms I am seeing? I charged the battery pretty good and it seems very strong but I am a hopeless sceptic. Is there a way to check if the relay is good or not? It clicks so that tells me it is pulling in.

Dale.

sounds like a bad ground somew

sounds like a bad ground somewhere to me.

If you can't perform a loa

If you can't perform a load test on the battery throw it into your vehicle and see if it strong enough to start it.

"I took the starter relay off

"I took the starter relay off and intend on trying to have it checked today. If it checks good I guess I am back to the battery, cable and connections. The hot side connection actually has two wires. a large one (which I assume is the starter) and a smaller one (which I assume are the auxilaries). The smaller one also has an in line fuse."

Ok. Back in business. The st

Ok. Back in business. The starter relay was bad. $40 later and she cranks like a champ. The engine seems to run a little rough though. I had to replace the fuel line and priming bulb due to theft (that's what started all this). I purchased standard automotive fuel hose. The connection on the top of the tank was pretty tight and the outside of the hose split a little. It was not through-wall so I just put a hose clamp on it and connected the rest of it. It primes great and there are no fuel leaks. Could the new fuel line and bulb be the cause of the engine running rough? Could I be drawing air in without knowing it? The fuel is about 3 months old but I put stable in it when I filled it up. Could the stable cause the rough running? I'm tempted just to take it out and run it to see if the problem resolves itself. Any thoughts?