Starter going bad?

[Sailor Dave]

I have a 1981 Hunter 30 with a Yanmar 2GM. I the past couple of weeks, from time to time, I have to hit the starter button multiple times before the engine turns over. The idiot lights dim when I hit the button so I know the button is working. The batteries are good and the engine starts easily once it turns over. My thought is that the starter has a bad spot and needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

Recommendations welcome...

Also, the 2GM has a spindle for a hand crank. Can this motor be started with a hand crank in an emergency or is their to much compression to turn over fast enough by hand?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Slow starting or no starting is rarely the starter or the start button. It usually is traced to:

1. Bad connections at the main engine ground

2. Bad connections at the starter post

3. Bad connections at the battery

4. Bad fuseholder on the wire from the start button to the starter solenoid

Check those first before you go tearing stuff apart.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Good info from Stu.

 

[Rich Stidger]

For sure check all the connections as Stu has suggested. If after cleaning and re-tightening all of these, you still have the problem, I would look at the starter solenoid. It may be internal to the starter or external- I am not familiar with your engine. You could have a bad spot on the starter commutator as you asked, but I will also offer this story-

My Westerbeke generator presented with all the same symptoms as you have described. A visual check showed all connections looking good. It was very hard to physically get to the starter and solenoid, but I did manage to measure the voltage drop across the solenoid and found it to be under a volt. I don't recall the exact value.

Well, long story short, I removed the starter and tore it down over the winter. I could find absolutely nothing wrong with it. No shorts, no opens, nothing. The commutator was in great shape too. I re-assembled and re-installed.

No problems since then.

So what was the actual problem? I have no clue.

 

[kito]

My ysm12 manual says to start manually, first put in "no compression" to get it spinning and then switch to "compression". Give it a few more turns...it should start.

 

[Darwin19229]

Had the same problem a while back. I read a post on this forum (search?) that suggested checking the white connector from the Yanmar cockpit panel to the engine and spraying some connector cleaner on it. I did that and my starting problems went away. YMMV
Regards,

 

[Bill Roosa]

also check

the connectors on the engine wire harness, the connectors on the boat wire harness from engine to helm, and about 8 other connectors between the ignition switch and the solenoid "C" terminal (control wire).
If you have this problem you probably also have engine gauges that read wrong. The sending units are variable resistors so any corrosion in the connectors will make them read incorrectly. I neutered my boat. sniped out the connectors and soldered the wires. The difference was pretty amazing.

 

[celticwinds]

Read the voltage on your batteries first. The voltage at full charge should be 12.75 volts. Connect a remote starter switch to the solenoid to test the starter. The remote switch will bypass the wiring and should tell you if the starter has a problem. Check the battery ground on the engine block and make sure it is tight. Using proper procedure the engine can be started by hand.

 

[markwesti]

Check all the wires like everybody says . I had the same click click problem . Yanmar wants 750. for a new starter . Don't pay it , get the thing rebuilt like I did at a rebuild shop . My shop went through the whole thing for 250 . If you don't have a good rebuild shop please use mine ,it's Wayne Electric in Long Beach Ca . talk to Mark . Good luck buddy ! PS I would forget about that hand crank thing .

 

[Bill Roosa]

In a pinch (like being in the dredged channel under sail, no wind, and a freighter bearing down on you at 20+ knots) you can short between the starter high amp cable and the solenoid control wire with a screwdriver. Make sure the ignition is on first as the engine will start. since these situations only happen at night you might want to practice a time or two before you actually need it for real.

 

[Ken13559]

I've same issue and did what Halldp did, check the connectors and clean contacts with contact cleaning spray. Problem will come back after sometime, so I install an alternate Emergency Start Panel at Nav Station (tuck away in a corner) that is wired directly to the starter solenoid for just in case the engine won't start via Yanmar Instrument Panel.

 

[Sailm8]

If you find you need a new started check ebay. Mine was $79.00. I will have the old one rebuilt as a spare.

 

[seadaddler]

Starter

I found a great guy who sells and rebuilds starters and Alternators in
Port Charlotte where I got a new starter for $129.00 for my 07 H-36,he said he doesn't rebuild them parts hard to get and everyone else wanted $500.00.
He also sells Batteries good price,up in NY right now and can't remember name.
Nick

 

[woodster]

any automotive electric shop can fix the starter if it is indeed bad ....these are made by Hatchie the same as what Nesson uses...also the alts are as well if stock...and of course there is always Ebay.......but the connections are usually the culprit in most cases...its seems it is always about maintenance and preventive maintenance...as Maine Sail and others have preached till they are probably blue in the face...dielectric grease, clean tight connections,fuses and good grounding (DGCTCFGG)

 

[py26129]

Do a search for Yanmar starter issue and you will get a bunch of hits. This is an issue common to many Yanmar and is caused by increased resistance due to corrosion in the wire form the button to the starter relay. The accepted fix is to add another relay in front of the original starter relay.

I have the issue on my boat and adding the relay is on my to do list.

As for hand cranking the engine, I have no first hand experience but my crank started by 1 cylinder YSE8 many times. The trick is to open the decompression levers, crank the engine and then close the levers 1 by 1.

Another way to start the engine is to locate the high voltage terminals on the starter and bridge them momentarily with a good size screw driver. )make sure the handle is well insulated and make sure you don't touch any metal parts).

Cheers

Matt

 

[kloudie1]

I bypassed the high resistance plug connections and it works really fine. PO had wired in an ammeter .. I removed that and put in a voltmeter (using hints from Stu's site) with small gauge wire . Wired alt to bat post on 1/2 selector directly .. then had the two old 10 ga ammeter wires as spares. I used one (fused) to put 12V to panel and the other to go from push button to starter solenoid. Left the other plugged wires in place. Wires were already there so I figured I'd use them .. Yup, they are labeled