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Help! Am desperate to get 1984 OMC 3.0L to turn over

C

Clasata

New member
Quite a long story here. All began with the replacement of starter slave solenoid. After replacing 3 times no, motor no longer even turns over and a faint single click can be heard from the ignition coil area when the key is turned. Have since replaced the starter and the same problem persists along with the new issue of none of my electrical switches working (bilge pump, nav lights etc). After replacing the starter it is now able to be jump started from the solenoid which leads me to believe the solenoid is bad but I know it’s not and would also fail to explain why I’m having electrical issues now. Any thoughts or things I can try?
 
makomark said:
Battery cable connections at all four ends clean??
Click to expand...
Yep, all connections to battery terminals, solenoid terminals, and starter terminals are shiny bright. Also failed to mention earlier that the gauges now go counterclockwise when any of the electrical switches are flipped and the tilt indicator light also turns on
 
ok...how old is the battery? Have you load tested the battery? Have you made any measurements to narrow down the source of the problem?
 
Both battery’s are in good shape and yes they have been load tested and passed just fine. Did testing with the multimeter on the starter, space solenoid, and ignition coil. All wires seemed as they should be except with the possible exception of the purple wire. The purple wire the runs to the starter and ignition coil reads 5.5v at both locations
 
Clasata said:
...The purple wire the runs to the starter and ignition coil reads 5.5v at both locations....
Click to expand...
If it is the same wire (or two wires connected at some point), that is likely your problem...what wires are on which terminals in the starter wiring?
 
There’s the main post on the starter which has good voltage and 3 red wires, the second post is the ignition post which has the purple wire, and the third post has the yellow/red striped wire which is my start wire
 
So the purple wire goes to the R terminal on the starter solenoid and the YEL/RED wire goes to the S terminal?
 
That's a helluva voltage drop...

when you said "... it is now able to be jump started from the solenoid ..." where you referring to the starter or slave solenoid? and, when you did that, did the engine just crank or start?
 
When I referred to starting it at the solenoid, I meant slave solenoid. It took a little while of cranking to get it started but that’s to be expected as it’s sat for some time now.
 
I’ve checked the batteries in both the off, and run positions, but will have to check the start position later. Lowest voltage seen in both positions was 12.3v.
 
Check batteries again and both of them read above 12.4v in every key position. I found the issue with the bilge and gauges to be 2 ground wires that were disconnected during removal of old starter, so that’s no longer an issue. The issue that remains is the engine not turning over at the key, and still only hearing a faint single click from the ignition coil/ distributor cap area.
 
I asked you check the battery terminal on the ignition switch in all three of its positions...not the same as checking the batteries.

I am pretty convinced you have one or more bad connections...making certain measurements is the normal troubleshooting approach to finding them...
 
Apologies for that. Just checked the ignition switch wires and I was getting minimum 12.2v at all three of the posts. I also just replaced ignition switch and slave solenoid, but no luck there in getting the engine to turn over still.
 
I’ve been jumping the slave solenoid to get the engine to turn over. When I jump it at the slave solenoid, the engine starts right up. As I mentioned, I replaced the slave solenoid once again last night hoping that would get the engine to turn over when I turn the key, but still no luck there.
 
Ok...for clarity, I'm assuming 'Jump the slave solenoid' means to short the two large terminals.

lets see if the slave solenoid works - try a jumper wire between the slave solenoid's big terminal (going to the battery) and the little terminal (from the ignition switch). If the slave solenoid has two little terminals, the desired one should have a YEL/RED wire on it...
 
Thanks for all of the help. Finally resolved the issue by running a new wire from the ignition switch to the small post on the slave solenoid. The original wire had to have been frayed/damaged as everything functions well now. Thanks again
 
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