1964 Johnson 40hp RDS-26 Starting Solenoid problems?

[Tim White]

Okay so i have spent the last two months working on my first boat.Since my question is about the outboard i'll just stick to what i have done.Its a 1964 Johnson 40hp RDS-26
First thing i did was rebuild the plate & sleeve assembly,new coils and condensers,cleaned up the points new wires.Went through rebuilt the lower end and new impeller added the extension kit.
Got a nice elephant ear prop for it.And painted the lower unit.Cleaned up and taped where needed all connections on the motor end as well as junction box.Was working good starting with the key all was well.Got it in the water,and i had carb issues.It had run good in the barrel but the day before going out wasn't staying running well.I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would work the next day.And when it did not i was not shocked.We trolled with the bow mount on the lake anyway and i tinkered with the carb here and there in between fishing and tried cranking it over.Realized pretty quickly i was going to need to rebuild the carb and that was that.Gave it a last try and the starter didn't kick in.Full battery everything else was working including the electric choke.Just nothing when i went to crank it over.Got it to crank once more after awhile but that was it.Rebuilt the carb today including new float and tried to figure out the starter issue.seems to me its either the starter which was working just fine before hand and i don't see why it would just die completely.Or perhaps the starter solenoid in the junction box.I do not hear it click when i turn the key like i could when it was working.Only the choke solenoid on the motor works when i push in the key.Could the solenoid have gone bad,and if so would the choke still work fine?Got a long way with out much help and its been a fun deal,lot of hours into it all so far.But i just want to get on the water once or twice before its time to put it away for the winter.Everything i did with the boat works great.I can just troll no problem,but after all the love i gave this motor it sure would make me smile to push the throttle forward and go.By the way i have less than $600 in the whole thing.A 1987 Bayliner Bass Striker 1910 18 foot.24 volt foot controlled bow mount.Depth finder.No rot which is a blessing with the old bayliners so i have read.Nice boat and trailer for the money for sure.It had no motor and i got the old johnson for cheap so.I know its a bit underpowered but it will do the job.Cheap parts plenty of them around and a fairly simple motor to cut my teeth on.Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[joereeves]

Large single paragraphs are extremely hard to read as everything has a tendency to flow together. I've attempted to read thru the above a few times but have a problem with it due to its size. Just exactly what is the problem you're having?

 

[Tim White]

The starter is no longer doing anything at all when i turn the key.Was working fine but now nothing.I can push the key in for the electric choke and that works but when i turn the key nothing.I do not hear the solenoid in the junction box click like it would just before the starter engaged when it worked.So is it likely the solenoid?If not what else?

 

[joereeves]

The electric starter circuitry is:

1 - 12v from battery to the "B" terminal of the ignition switch.

2 - 12v from the "S" terminal of the ignition switch to one of the small 3/8" nut terminals of the starter solenoid but only when the key is turned to the START position.

3 - A ground wire leading from the other small 3/8" nut terminal of the starter solenoid to either a powerhead ground OR (and most likely) to a small grounding switch.

I suspect that either that grounding switch may be faulty or you have some throttle applied that is causing the grounding switch to disengage.

 

[Tim White]

Okay i will give it a look in the morning.You know i am not sure that maybe i do have the throttle too far forward for starting since i can't recall touching the stick after the last time it fired on the lake but died due to the float problems.Wouldn't it be awesome if that was the problem.Thanks for the tips and i'll let you know.

 

[Tim White]

Thank you!I couldn't resist going out with a flashlight and checking.Sure enough the throttle was just barely too far forward.I did not know that it wouldn't let it turn over if it was too far forward.Love when the fix is something so simple,or something i should have known Thanks a million.