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Tohatsu MFS20C - No electric start, no tilt

W

wolfmanofdelrio

New member
After the long hot summer we had I went to run the boat to get ready for fall fishing and the electric start won't work. Tilt worked for a bit and now won't work as well. Weirdly the trolling motor is working (thinking that probably rules out the battery, but I'm going to have it checked anyways). Probably haven't run the motor in two months. Pull start worked fine, motor ran fine.

I checked and have good voltage to the motor. Wiring all seems to be securely connected.

I shorted across the starter solenoid and got a split second of cranking, then nothing.

I get intermittent clicks on the tilt button.

Never get any crank while pushing the start button, only a click or two then nothing (almost feels like something has to recharge?)

I checked the various fuses and connections from the battery all the way to the motor and it all seems in working order (including the wiring harness at the motor).

Am I missing something obvious? It feels like a bad battery, but why would the trolling motor still work if so?
 
The tilt/trim without the key bein turned on, so it's not an ignition switch problem. I believe the tilt/trim as well as the itnition switch get their power from one of the small terminals on the starter solenoid. Check the red wires connected to the small terminal on the soleoid. Also, both the tilt/trim and the starter get their ground from the mounting surfaces, so check everywhere that there is a ground wire bolted to the motor. And yes, check the main ground wire and make sure the connections are clean and tight.
 
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