Bad Starter?

[mnwakerider]

Hope you guys can help with a problem.

It seems as though my starter may have gone out this weekend in my 2003 SAN 210 with Excal 330. When hitting the ignition at the keypad I only get one 'hit' of the starter and no action or even recoil at the belts/crank case.

Here is what I have gone through for checking:

• Each time I try to start the boat via keypad I get one 'hit' from the starter then the entire system (keypad, speedos, stereo etc) dies, like entering code and hitting stop.
• Multimeter reads 3.6V at lead from ignition/keypad. Is that normal? I xpected 12v.
• Got more movement with test lead going straight from battery to ignition lead. No turnover, but more crankcase actually moving
• manually got one revolution on the crank case via 5/8 wrench with to make sure it was not seized

Does all of this sound like the starter or the lead from the keypad/ignition switch or something all together different? Any other suggestions? My check engine light is on, but the boat is not running so I am assuming this is always like it in this state.

Thanks for all suggestions I really hope to get this resolved by the 4th. For the lake boat parade.

[Rick]

Could be a bad Battery, or a bad ground connection. How old is the battery? If a cell goes bad you will have 12V at the battery but no amps to crank. Any auto parts store can test the battery. If it is good then start by looking where the ground cable bolts to the engine or clean the corrosion from the terminal. It may be a bad starter but I would try the easy fixes first.

[mnwakerider]

Thanks for the reply Rick. I got a new battery middle of last season. But may be worth pulling to have the auto parts store check. As for the ground, are you referring to the ground on the battery or the ones that go to the engine mounts on the side of the floor next to the starter?

[mnwakerider]

Well thought it was the starter. Got a new one. Put it in, not the starter. Trying to trouble shoot it I pulled the plugs to check for hydro lock. Gushing water came out... not good. Reading up on other threads now on how to work though this issue. Going to put it all back and do a compression check and see where we go from there.

Thanks again for the help from everyone.

[mnwakerider]

It was a hydro lock or hydrolock situation. Pulled the exhaust flap in and filled oil and cylinders with water. Pulled the plugs, drained and checked compression. All was good. Drained the oil and about a quart of water. Refilled oil and new filter. Started right up and ran normal in about 15-20 seconds of rough sputters (remaining water in the cylinders I am guessing).

[Rick]

When we raced and an engine got swamped we would pull the plugs drain the oil and fill the engine with 2 gallons of WD40. Turn the engine over a few times to make sure it was distributed and then drain. New oil run for a few minutes and check for water. if there is still water then you have a cracked block, blown gaskets (head or exhaust) or a leak in the exhaust manifolds. WD 40 actually stands for Water Displacement formula #40 and is used to remove water from surfaces.