The engine in my 1990 Catalina 30 won't always start. The engine is a 25XP. It usually cranks after sitting for a few weeks, but if you cut off the engine and try to re-start in a few minutes, it won't crank. It sounds like it is trying to turn over, but just won't. It happened yesterday, after I fueled up, we tried to crank up and it wouldn't start. I had to flip the decompression lever to get it to start.......any ideas on what this could be?
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corrosion ?
Jason - what you described often happens with stater circuits. When cold they perform okay - when they warm up the resistance increases and no go so a poor connection in your circuit will work okay when you start it cold but an hour later when things have warmed up the resistance will be too great. You will want to trace your starter circuit from power source to ignition/starter switch to starter - make sure all connections are clean and tight. ALSO check the ground circuit as that is often forgotten, a bad ground connection at the engine or main ground bus can cause problems. Does your engine have the original wire harness plugs (looks like a trailer elec plug - originally used to connect engine wiring to engine panel wiring) if you haven't upgraded your wiring harness check out the archives - it is an important fix. I changed mine a few years ago and I keep the melted original plugs to remind me about preventative maintenance - it is a wonder the old plug didn't cause a fire.
Jason - what you described often happens with stater circuits. When cold they perform okay - when they warm up the resistance increases and no go so a poor connection in your circuit will work okay when you start it cold but an hour later when things have warmed up the resistance will be too great. You will want to trace your starter circuit from power source to ignition/starter switch to starter - make sure all connections are clean and tight. ALSO check the ground circuit as that is often forgotten, a bad ground connection at the engine or main ground bus can cause problems. Does your engine have the original wire harness plugs (looks like a trailer elec plug - originally used to connect engine wiring to engine panel wiring) if you haven't upgraded your wiring harness check out the archives - it is an important fix. I changed mine a few years ago and I keep the melted original plugs to remind me about preventative maintenance - it is a wonder the old plug didn't cause a fire.
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