1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

honestcharlie56
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1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by honestcharlie56 »

Ok, so I got my engines back in the boat about a month ago. When testing running them on the bench I noticed they wouldn't turn over unless the ignition was unplugged from the coil. Thought it was no big deal, maybe they need to be plugged into the boat. Fast forward, they are in the boat and now same thing. I can jump hot to the solenoid S terminal and they will turn over, but only if the purple ignition wire is unplugged. Once the engine is cranking I can plug it back in and she continues to crank and shortly fires and runs fine. Both engines do this, swapped solenoids and resistors....resistors both get fairly hot while running. Any ideas?
1990 Marinette 32 Sedan Flybridge "Hubba" Lake Charles, LA
Twin Chrysler 318's
Fastjeff
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by Fastjeff »

I believe that purple wire should be on the "I" terminal?

Jeff
"We live at the bottom of an ocean of air, not at the top." General Marvage Slatington
barkleydave
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by barkleydave »

Purple wire should be the I terminal (ignition) Cranking voltage should never run through the Purple wire. If it tries it cannot handle the load and I am surprised it did not burn the wire up if it did.

Check your wiring to the starter relay sounds like it may be mis wired. Mind you I am only taking a wild guess... !
Keep us posted on your progress.

safe harbors,

dave
1987 Marinette 29 FB Sedan
Retired Boat Accident UL and USCG trained investigator
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honestcharlie56
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by honestcharlie56 »

Right, so with the purple attached to the I terminal I get no cranking at all (the solenoid does have a very very faint click to it though). Once I unplug the purple wire she will start to crank and as I plug it back in she will fire and run fine. Yellow with red tracer is connected to S terminal and purple is connected to I.
1990 Marinette 32 Sedan Flybridge "Hubba" Lake Charles, LA
Twin Chrysler 318's
EWRice
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by EWRice »

Sounds like a voltage drop to or at the ignition switch. Check it with a volt meter.
Muskegon Lake
1972 32' Express flybridge
"AL13"
Twin 318s
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1963 Thompson Super Sea Lancer
Graymarine 327
1961 Alumacraft 12'
'55 10hp Johnson
Fastjeff
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by Fastjeff »

Had a similar problem on Mr Port for years. Cured it by installing a relay to trip the starter solenoid, taking 12 volts right off the nearby battery cable. These "Bosch type" relays are available dirt cheap on eBay, and usually come with a convenient base that has wires coming out of it. Use them for all kinds of tasks

Jeff
"We live at the bottom of an ocean of air, not at the top." General Marvage Slatington
honestcharlie56
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by honestcharlie56 »

Ya I know I should have had my meter....my fluke bag (and all my fluke instruments) were not in my truck. I'll do some digging and report back, hopefully someone will find this useful in the future.
1990 Marinette 32 Sedan Flybridge "Hubba" Lake Charles, LA
Twin Chrysler 318's
barkleydave
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by barkleydave »

I had a similar problem but found out it was a corroded fuse socket. Cleaned it up and all was fine.

dave
1987 Marinette 29 FB Sedan
Retired Boat Accident UL and USCG trained investigator
Retired USCG Captain
honestcharlie56
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by honestcharlie56 »

Ok, thanks for weighing in gentlemen, it is always much appreciated. After toying with the voltmeter, switches, wiring, blah blah....dad finally says, "Just go buy two new solenoids and see if that fixes it....they're like 20 bucks". So sure enough, two brand new solenoids did the trick and the boat starts and runs great.
Last edited by honestcharlie56 on Mon Jun 12, 2017 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
1990 Marinette 32 Sedan Flybridge "Hubba" Lake Charles, LA
Twin Chrysler 318's
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tundrarules
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Re: 1990 318 won't turn over with ignition plugged in

Post by tundrarules »

Crazy! Good find! Ole Dad saves the day! :mrgreen:
1985 29 Sedan
Edelbrock 1409 carbs
Mallory distributors
Pertronix Flame-Thrower coil & wires
780 hrs/eng
TN River, MM 213.8

:mrgreen:
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