Boat wonbt start start turns doesnbt engage

"98 Johnson 90hp - J90ELECM

"98 Johnson 90hp - J90ELECM

Well, determined my regulator / rectifier was bad. I received my new Sierra one on Friday and just got around to installing it this morning.

So, the new R/R is in place. Sierra has a "design improvement" and the purple drain wire is no longer needed - it's completely deleted from the wiring harness, but they say just plug it in - nothing else is needed to be done. I have no idea what the purpose of the purple wire was to begin with.

Well, all excited to fire her up and it's a no go. I hear the starter turning - very fast and w/ no strain, so that lets me know that it isn't engaging w/ the flywheel. What would cause this? I refuse to believe that my starter coincidentally fails at the same time I install a new R/R. There are only 2 harnesses from new R/R and both are plugged in and the red wire is connected to distribution bolt. I'm going to assume this is unrelated to the deleted purple wire b/c they state in the instructions that nothing is to be done.

Any ideas???"

"try charging the battery/they

"try charging the battery/they are related
should not be a major problem,if reg/rec was bad that means your battery was not getting a full charge,also spray it with a little wd/40.
that should do it"

"Yeah, I would charge the batt

"Yeah, I would charge the battery every other trip just for peace of mind (before I diagnosed R/R - only knew something was wrong b/c tach wasn't working properly and I replaced that and got the same exact results).

Anyway, I highly doubt that's it, but I just threw the charger on anyway. It as plently of amps to spin the starter, but it just doesn't pop "up" to engage."

"After hearing you've inst

"After hearing you've installed a new regulator/rectifier, I hesitate to mention this possibility, especially if the starter functioned perfectly previously, and the bendix gear also popped up previously......

Look directly down at the starter. When engaged, it must turn in a counter clockwise direction in order to have the bendix pop up and turn the flywheel in a clockwise direction.

If it is instead turning in a clockwise direction, that will force the bendix to press itself against the starter (downward, not upwards).

If this is the case, and unless you've had the starter apart and installed the brushes improperly, this wrong direction scenario could only be caused by battery reverse polarity which would immediately damage that new regulator/rectifier.

Note that even if the battery is connected properly (red cable to + terminal, black to - terminal), some boaters accidently charge the battery backwards (it happens). The result is reverse polarity.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay store at:

http://stores.ebay.com/Evinrude-Johnson-Outboard-Parts-etc?refid=store"

Hopefully you havent reversed

Hopefully you havent reversed the battery leads
If the battery voltage is low it will still turn the starter motor but wont engage the bendix.

Never spray the bendix with crc wd40 etc as the rubber clutch inside the bendix will be stuffed and will spin without turning the flywheel.

"No, I didn't reverse any

"No, I didn't reverse any leads when charging the battery. I actually have a lead that comes off my battery and my charger just plugs into that, so since I know I got it right the first time (when hooking up that lead), it's impossible to cross it up now - the battery charger only plugs in one way.

I do however spray the whole motor w/ WD40 after each use as recommended by the mechanic that rebuilt it. He said remove the cover, spray lightly w/ water, let it dry and then spray lightly w/ WD40. He told me to avoid the plug wires b/c they can expand/contract w/ the oil which leads to cracks, etc, but didn't mention the starter. (100% saltwater boat)

I have a spare starter that I'm going to throw in first thing in the morning and see if that does the trick. If so, I'll order up a new one b/c I don't really trust my spare one to start for me everytime when I'm out on the water."

Spray a engine powerhead light

Spray a engine powerhead lightly with water..... with all those electrical contacts? Don't do that!

"All electrical contacts are s

"All electrical contacts are sealed - it is a marine engine afterall. All the harnesses have gaskets and the splices are heatshrinked. I personally would rather have fresh water on the motor than salt (and even if salt water doesn't directly contact anything, salt is in the air).

Anyway, I replaced the starter w/ my spare and all is well. I was talking to a buddy of mine familiar w/ these and he said it's possible a magnet came loose and was preventing it from spinning fast enough. I will dissemble the starter in the next few days, I'll know for sure."

When I had my marine shop we w

When I had my marine shop we would degrease and wash down all power heads with water however we did use compressed air to dry off the powerhead befor spraying Inox all over it which doesnt harm any rubber components

"we use------ wd40..and a rag.

"we use------ wd40..and a rag...and more wd40....corrosion x,..and all that heavy ass grease stuff,..is a mech nitemare ,un-necc,an extremelly messy..i am a wd40..proponent...,i have used,..every super (*^*&%&,on the market,in the last 32 yrs......wd.....gets the job done.."

"just saw this------>and h

"just saw this------>and he said it's possible a magnet came loose and was preventing it from spinning fast enough...no way............magnet,wil keep u from chging,firing,etc...but,cranking,.......another,....prob,."

It may be simple - just had th

It may be simple - just had this happen today and all it was was a gummy Starter Bendix. It was so dry and from years of non-service - the bendix would not spin up to engage the flywheel teeth. Removed cleaned and reinstalled and it worked like it should.. Easy fix and cheap!

--------bingo-------

--------bingo-------

"I don't know. The starter

"I don't know. The starter would just spin - not engage bendix. I took it out b/c I have a spare, but my mechanic stopped by, figured I just had a poor connection, so he threw it back in. At that point, it did nothing. So, I swapped it w/ my spare and BINGO - first try it fired right up.

So, I don't know what can cause a starter to spin and then from just removing & reinstalling do absolutely nothing. That's why he suggested the magnet. Said maybe it was loose and from the slight banging around of me taking it out, setting it down on its side, etc could have dislodged it. I really don't care - the boat works now. I'll tear down the starter later this week and see if I can figure it out"

"Oh, also, the boat is used ab

"Oh, also, the boat is used about twice a week, so if anything, parts will wear out from overuse - definitely not be gummed up.

Good info though - might help someone out down the road if they stumble across this thread"