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Battery Question

"I would fabricate a heat shie

"I would fabricate a heat shield for the starter to keep the engine heat from it. An cheap square aluminum throw away cooking pan will do it.

If your air duct inlet has an extra hole in it blockd off, remove it and add a plastic duct directly to the starter to cool it while under way. I would do the air duct first then the heat shield."
 
Larry Whitehead
We still need

Larry Whitehead
We still need to know if the new battery is taking a 14.V charge when running. If not your charging system is suspect.
Bert
 
"Bert,
I still have the origi

"Bert,
I still have the original stator altenator and the most it is throwing out is 13 volts. I don't understand how this would affect starting with fully charged batteries?
Larry"
 
"Great idea Guy whith the air

"Great idea Guy whith the air duct rig i beilieve that would keep one cool
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Larry is there any possible su

Larry is there any possible suspect that may be drawing the battery down while you are underway because it sounds like its doing it over the course of the day
 
Steve:

I use two 3" air

Steve:

I use two 3" air duct inlets; one for the bilge and one for the engine carb; it dumps fresh air right in front of the carb. I exhaust bilge air w/a 4" blower and 4" air duct since the air w/in the engine compartment has expanded from heat.
 
"i've seen that slow turni

"i've seen that slow turning starter motors, besides poor battery connections or connections at the starter can have some damage to the commutator, brushes or brush holder.

The engine cranks pretty good when cold. But if you let the engine run for a while and get up to normal operating temperature and shut the engine off and try to start it again that is when it really lugs.

Says' to me there might be a problem with the starter"
 
"Guy & Steve,

I don&#39

"Guy & Steve,

I don't believe I have anything that would draw the voltage while I am running. I will review everything to make sure. So far all my running has been in the datyime thus no lights etc.

Guy,
I will try and send a picture of my engine compartment at a later date. I have a rectangular box setting over the engine compartment extending about 6 inches above the Tritoon aluminum lip that makes up the engine compartment. I have 4 inch louvered vents on the left and right sides of the upper part of the box towards the front and 2, 4 inch vents on the back of the box to exaust as we are moving. I also have a 3 inch blower exaust in the rear of the engine compartment. I generally only use the blower a minute or so before starting the engine.

Do you think if I were to install some sort of vent hose from one of the front vents down to the starter area I may solve the problem?
Larry"
 
"not gonna gaurantte it would

"not gonna gaurantte it would solve the problem larry but it only adds up to a heat problem and that is a awsom idea from Guy to vent air into it right at the starter. you have nothing to lose and much to gain and if it did cure it larry it would be about a 10buck fix brian also has a good point it does sound like you got a tight doghouse so maybe you arent getting rid of the heat like you need to my
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sorry to plop this question in

sorry to plop this question in on this thread but this question struck me when i read Guy say he exhaust his bilge air out. is it better to exoust it out or blow air in? mine was set up to go out and i changed it to blow in
 
"Has the starter been checked?

"Has the starter been checked? If the internal brass connecting link is old, or weak, or corroded, you'll have hard time starting. Just for the hell of it, the next time it won't start, give starter housing a smack with a hammer or a piece 2X4, or both. If it starts, there's the problem... the internal starter connections. (I had to smack the starter in my '75 chev p/u for months before I finally had to replace it... but the symptoms were the same)
As far as the alternator goes. It should put out maximum amperage till the regulator senses 14.2 volts from the battery(s), at which time it should drop to trickle charge. You need to somehow find out the output of the alternator. Can you take it somewhere to bench test it?
Just a couple of thoughts."
 
"I have been reading this thre

"I have been reading this thread for some time !! This is a common problem with starter motors that have only 2 retaining bolts that hold the starter together. The front cover plate, which carrys the bearing warps with the heat and crushes the front bearing onto the armature shaft. The warp is caused by the expansion of the body of the starter, steel, and the alloy starts to fold between the 2 retaining bolts. The fix is to ream out the front bearing 1/2 a thou. Also the distortion can be caused by over tightning the 2 retaining bolts."
 
Steve:

"is it better to

Steve:

"is it better to exhaust it out or blow air in?"

The blower should be exhausting air out of the bilge where harmful fumes settle.

Larry:

" I generally only use the blower a minute or so before starting the engine."

Mine runs continuously and the interior space is never hot; try running yours continuously for awhile and see what happens.

"Do you think if I were to install some sort of vent hose from one of the front vents down to the starter area I may solve the problem?"

You have a tight doghouse evidenced by the builder installing numerous vents to get air in/out. Directing air w/a hose cannot hurt it.
 
"I'm with chris, any start

"I'm with chris, any starter that's not a compact one ( high torque) on some V8's and V6's typically. Should have a hanger at the front of it, bolting it to the block opposite end of where it bolts at the flywheel.

Also NEVER strike a starter with anything(unless last resort), this WILL dislogde the magnets and cause more damage and debris inside the starter.

I agreee with Guy G. and have a hose leading to the carb area of my engine as well."
 
I was looking at everything on

I was looking at everything on the boat once again and it appears I have lost some coolant. Rick Sweeten mentioned this in a post on 4/29/09.
Rick or anyone else can you give me more info on how to confirm this and what is generally the fix.

Larry
 
"Larry you may want to start a

"Larry you may want to start a new post.

check your oil, and did you notice any in the bilge or white smoke when you last ran it ?"
 
"OK Guys give me your thoughts

"OK Guys give me your thoughts on this and the starter lug. When I bought this boat the starter was off the engine. I had it rebuilt and put her back on. Yesterday I was going through a box of what I thought was old junk given me by the guy I bought the boat from. I found a bracket. The bracket is called, "Starter motor to the cylinder block bracket." It is not installed. Do you think this could cause my lug because of torque or something. It is #7 on the attached diagram url.

http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show_Pictures3.asp?dnbr=%2099958&ivar=images/CRUI SER/99958/3.png&inbr=1075&bnbr=10&bdesc=STARTER+MOTOR+AND+WIRING+HARNESS"
 
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