Yanmar Starting Problem

[Mark Juetten]

I am experiencing very intermitent starting prob. on 1996 376. On turning key I get s of juice to ignition but engine will not turn over at all even though I have tone and indicator lights. After several times turning key it starts perfectly. Have checked all conection and seem ok. Has always happened after 3-4 hours sailing Any Ideas as to where to go next Thanks1

 

[Paul Akers]

Check Starter Cables

Check the battery connections to the starter. There may be some corrosion or they may be loose.Another cause could be excess length of the cables. This would cause a power drop to the starter.I had a similar problem once and found the factory installed cables to be too long.

 

[Ressler s/v Blowdacious]

Check Batteries

Had a similar problem on my 96 H336. Try leaving the charger off overnight and see if it acts the same way. I had both batteries with a dead cell in each. Neither would crank the engine by themselves. If both had been on the charger overnight they would usually start it right up. If we shut the engine down while sailing, they would occasionally start it but it was so iffy I would leave the engine running all the time we were out. It was kind of annoying. Anyway, it turned out two new batteries cured the problem.

 

[Curt Morris]

Eratic Engine Starting...the solution

Mark,This problem is common in many production sailboats; it also happened to my 1998 H-376. The cause is long cabling runs with insufficiently sized wire. The system works fine when new, but with age develops resistance and a voltage drop. Thus your starting becomes eratic. The fix is larger wire(obviously this is too hard to do...and it is costly)or an inexpensive relay in the wiring which eliminates the voltage drop induced starter problem.My yard fixed my boat in an hour using a $23.00 relay. The engine now starts the first time every time.Please read H-40.5 starting in the big boat archives. Several of the responses, including mine, reference the relay fix.

 

[Mark Juetten]

What relay

Thanks for the reply. Could you tell me what relay you used and where to obtain? Thanks Again