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Mercruiser 4.3 won't start. Just does a click, then nothing

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chadley58

Member
We were headed out to the lake yesterday and as I always do, I tried to start the boat to run for 5-10 mins on the muffs. I always do this to try to minimize surprises when we get to the water. Well, I am glad I did. When I try to start it, I just hear a click, then nothing else. I know my battery is good (I have 2 that have recently been charged).

I tried replacing the slave solenoid because it was on the engine and easy to get at. The behavior is the same, just does a click, then nothing.

I think my next place to look is at the starter/solenoid. Am I correct?

I know it isn’t the neutral switch on the forward/reverse control because as I would try to start the engine and hear the click, I also tried it with the gear shifter in forward (heard no click), in reverse (no click).
The starter is in a very tough place to reach. Any suggestions on how to get at it would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance for your insights.
 
Check the cable ends on the main power cables (+ve and -ve) for corrosion. It can be hidden under the heatshrink and they can look perfect, so a simple test is to see if the bend easily at the crimp or if they will pull out with a good tug on the cable. If you hold the key in the start position the bad connection (if there is one) will also get hot enough to feel the difference. If it isn't that, could be battery switch or bad solenoid, or bad starter. A simple test to fast track the fault finding is to jumper the battery +ve to the battery side of the solenoid and then try to start it. This will by pass the switch and +ve cables. If it works, check teh +ve cables and switch. If that doesn't fix it, try jumping the batt -ve to the block and try again. If you have a portable voltmeter you can try measuring voltages with the key held in the start position to find where the voltage is getting lost.
 
I too had a bad positive battery cable after some frustration as you describe. Check your battery for voltage. You should expect to see 12.8-12.9 static volts. Once running, I would expect to see the battery voltage while charging between 13.5-14.2, depending on the resistance between the alternator and the battery.
jumping the solenoid as described above will help rule out a bad starter bendix or not.
Ii think 90% of the time, the issue goes right back to the battery and/or it's connections.
 
I will try what you suggest. To see if I had power, I operating the bilge manually. The pump operated properly. Not sure if this was a great test as I know the power needed to operate the bilge is minimal compared to the starter.

out of curiosity, in your post you say -ve and +ve. What is ve? I know you are talking about the positive and negative sides of the battery, but have just never heard it referred to as ve.
 
chadley58 said:
I will try what you suggest. To see if I had power, I operating the bilge manually. The pump operated properly. Not sure if this was a great test as I know the power needed to operate the bilge is minimal compared to the starter.

out of curiosity, in your post you say -ve and +ve. What is ve? I know you are talking about the positive and negative sides of the battery, but have just never heard it referred to as ve.
Click to expand...

The bilge pump test really doesn't help. Small 12v dc motors can operate on very little amperage and low battery voltage.

You would probably find most electronics items will operate with a weak battery but the needed amperage to activate and turn over a starter motor is significantly different.
 
chadley58 said:
I will try what you suggest. To see if I had power, I operating the bilge manually. The pump operated properly. Not sure if this was a great test as I know the power needed to operate the bilge is minimal compared to the starter.

out of curiosity, in your post you say -ve and +ve. What is ve? I know you are talking about the positive and negative sides of the battery, but have just never heard it referred to as ve.
Click to expand...

The "ve" that he is referring to is the positive and negative sides ( voltage ) of the battery. Just technical terms ( abbreviations ).
 
Took all of the connections off the solenoid/starter and wire brushed them. I even went to the auto parts store and bought new RED wire connector as mine was very corroded. I replaced the connector and hooked everything back up. Still no go. Just clicks. Ugh.

I would like to try to "hot wire" the starter to see if something is wrong with a switch somewhere, but I am unsure of which terminals to jump. I have 4 connections on the solenoid. Red wire (hot), black wire that goes directly from solenoid into starter itself, purple/yellow smaller wire, yellow/red small wire. Which ones do I jump?
 
op lug to "S"
IMG_1747.jpg
 
chadley58 said:
Took all of the connections off the solenoid/starter and wire brushed them. I even went to the auto parts store and bought new RED wire connector as mine was very corroded. I replaced the connector and hooked everything back up. Still no go. Just clicks. Ugh.

I would like to try to "hot wire" the starter to see if something is wrong with a switch somewhere, but I am unsure of which terminals to jump. I have 4 connections on the solenoid. Red wire (hot), black wire that goes directly from solenoid into starter itself, purple/yellow smaller wire, yellow/red small wire. Which ones do I jump?
Click to expand...

Ayuh,... Like BD says, from Battery to the little terminal closer to the block, the red/ yellow,...
 
Got sick of the lack of progress after all of this work, so I went to marine service near me and bought a new starter. After taking the engine hatch mostly apart of hanging upside down in the area I was able to remove the old starter and put the new one in. I was confident that it was the issue.

I reconnected all of the wires, got the muffs out, turned on the water, prayed and turned the key. Click. Aaaaahhhhhhhh! I spent 4 hours in the blazing sun today in the engine compartment of my boat and I was no further along than when I started. I called up the marine service shop near and they promised to turn it around quickly. I hooked up the trailer and towed it over.

I obviously missed a connection somewhere and have no idea where. Hopefully they find it quickly. One thing for sure, they won't need to replace the starter.

Any my other ideas? I will let you know what they say.
 
chadley58 said:
Got sick of the lack of progress after all of this work, so I went to marine service near me and bought a new starter. After taking the engine hatch mostly apart of hanging upside down in the area I was able to remove the old starter and put the new one in. I was confident that it was the issue.

I reconnected all of the wires, got the muffs out, turned on the water, prayed and turned the key. Click. Aaaaahhhhhhhh! I spent 4 hours in the blazing sun today in the engine compartment of my boat and I was no further along than when I started. I called up the marine service shop near and they promised to turn it around quickly. I hooked up the trailer and towed it over.

I obviously missed a connection somewhere and have no idea where. Hopefully they find it quickly. One thing for sure, they won't need to replace the starter.

Any my other ideas? I will let you know what they say.
Click to expand...
That sux Chad. Hopefully they will get you going for very little bucks. Good luck!
 
You never said you jumped the starter, IF you did and nothing happened then you would suspect a bad battery cable connection. mosty likely the neg connection at the block
 
Actually, I suspected the starter from the beginning. I hear the starter/solenoid don't like to be submerged in water. And as you know, BT, it was under water a few weeks ago when my boat took on water when the core plug was popped.
 
Is my statement correct? If the starter gets wet does it usually fry it? Is there some other issue that happens from having a lot of water around the engine that I should be aware of?
 
Depending on how high it was ,water can enter the main bellows area from inside the boat and start rusting the U joints and gimbal bearing.
Once a starter is underwater its usually done, especially salt.
 
Got it fixed. Turns out it was the slave solenoid. The slave solenoid was the first thing I replaced when this whole thing started. Apparently the new part I got was bad. UGH.

Through $200 and 12 hours of work I now have a new started, new slave solenoid, and a whole bunch more knowledge on the electrical/starting system. Trying to look on the bright side. :)
As always, thanks for the advice guys!!
 
chadley58 said:
Got it fixed. Turns out it was the slave solenoid. The slave solenoid was the first thing I replaced when this whole thing started. Apparently the new part I got was bad. UGH.

Through $200 and 12 hours of work I now have a new started, new slave solenoid, and a whole bunch more knowledge on the electrical/starting system. Trying to look on the bright side. :)
As always, thanks for the advice guys!!
Click to expand...


+1 . $400 later and around 20 hours of work (I replaced solenoid on the old started - same issue, later replaced solenoid + starter as a package - same issue, checked all cables and cleaned connections - same issue) I've found this thread and it was indeed! $20 slave solenoid.

FYI, slave solenoids do go bad, and they are simple to replace and cheap. Please make sure you explore Slave solenoid if symptoms are the same first before doing any heavy lifting.

P.S. I have Mercruiser 454 7.4, manufactured in 2000. Same symptoms as 4.3 from original post.

I hope this helps someone else to save a lot of time and $.
 
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