Starting problem

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Have a 200 Mercury 2 strokes 2002 motor. Went to start boat at 5 am and sounded like the starter was turning but the gear did not engage to the fly wheel. This was the first time the boat had sat for 3 weeks. Turned the key 5 times and nothing. Finally it engaged and started. Operated the boat all day with many , many starts with no problem. Any ideas ????

 

[guyjg]

This was the first time the boat had sat for 3 weeks.

Load test the battery after a complete charge. Battery may just have been in a state of low charge or it is weak...maybe a cell is dying. I use a 5 ball battery charge tester. It looks like an antifreeze tester. Check each cell's charge condition. If one or more of the cell's fluid is dark that idicates a decayed cell and time to replace the battery.