Difficulty cranking engine

[Bruce Bett]

Malinche is CD 30 #326 (1984) with a Universal model 18 engine. Ever since I bought the boat, about ten years ago now, I have had difficulty cranking the engine. I activate the glow plugs for 20 to 30 seconds push the starter and get an unsatisfying click. After several clicks the engine almost always starts. I want to be clear once the solenoid kicks the engine always starts. I have two deep cell batteries.
I have replaced most of the components in between the control panel and the engine, including the starter/solenoid (but not the wires thenselves). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Paul D.]

I had this issue with our Universal 30 (5424). While it turned out to be the solenoid which I pulled and had rebuilt along with the starter, if you've already done that it may well be a low voltage issue. First thing I would do is check and clean the main ground on the engine. Then I would check voltage at the starter when the switch is engaged.

Other thing I would consider is your battery system. I had two deep cycle batteries when we purchased Femme and always had issues starting the motor and running out of power. That winter I designed a plan with the help of Ham Ferris to create a house bank of deep cycle and a ~600 CCA starter battery with an echo charger in between to charge the starter battery. This set up has worked well since - only occasional topping off the batteries, cleaning contacts and replacing the batteries after 11 years.

It may be your deep cycles, combined with some dirty wiring connections are not getting the cranking power needed to your starter. I would certainly check your big ground first.

Good luck - There are far better electricians on this board than I, so I would also look at Nigel Calder's Mechanical and electrical Manual for an issue such as this.

[Bruce Bett]

Thanks Paul:

I've been thinking along those lines and am happy to know they worked for you. I will review Mr. Calder's book, I believe I have a copy.

Burce

[sloopjohnl]

definitely a voltage problem with not enough juice making it to the starter.

[RC James]

++ on the Grounding System.

My 25D had the same click/click sound....finally found a loose AND dirty ground strap attached to the engine block. A little sandpaper,alcohol and a retightened nut and it was like new! Now cranks everytime, all the time.

Also later replaced the control panel starter switch for a different prob, but there are lots of loose wires behind that plastic thing... a little electrical cleaner and a small wrench might clear up any detritus and loose connections, if the big ground strap is not the problem..
RC

[psjanker]

My problem was a bad start button....replaced it and problem went away.

V/r

Pete

[Nebe]

I don't mean to sound negative, but its ground issue.. ( see what I did there?)

[John M]

I had this problem as well. My panel was wired such that the glow plug had to be held depressed to have the start button work. This causes approx 20 amps to be flowing. This is through the key switch through the glow switch The path also includes two connectors in the harness between the engine and the control panel.
A very small amount of resistance in each of these items combined with 20 amps can cause a significant voltage drop. I finally instrumented things and found when the simple click was heard the solenoid connector on the starter was only getting about 5 volts. Step One was to move the source of the start switch such that it got power from the key switch directly. This allowed me to release the glow plug before pushing start. This was a major improvement. Later I ran a new harness eliminating the two connectors and installed a relay to carry the glow current such that the glow switch only caused a very small current in the harness. This totally eliminated the issue. A quick check would be to connect a volt meter to the solenoid terminal on your starter. Of course it does not always happen but when it occurs note the voltage, it should be near 12 volts. I found the inexpensive meters sold by harbor freight a cost effective way to instrument things they are quite accurate.

If you want any information on the harness I built I have it well documented and would be glad to share it.

I had done a fair amout of research on this and it is quite common.

[John M]

One additional thing is, I initially assumed starter and have a fully functional starter if you decide it is something you want to try. I would recommend checking the voltage drop first.

[Maine Sail]

Clean and check or replace all terminations between the engine and panel. The Universal/Westerbeke "trailer plugs", usually one at the engine end and one at the panel end, are NOTORIOUS for failing, creating high resistance and physically melting. In a few cases they have even started fires..... If you have the trailer plugs, and they pass glow or alternator current, re-wire the system correctly and get rid of them as soon as you can.....

If your engine is of the vintage where the engine panel has an ammeter you're well past due for some wiring upgrades.


Universal Wiring Harness Article
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/univ ... ss_upgrade

[Bruce Bett]

Thanks Guys there's some good stuff here:

It's perhaps a little early to say I've solved the problem but for the moment it's working fine. I've said that before. I went out to the boat last week with a couple of days to work on the problem and started with cleaning all the contacts. I pulled the alternator to get to the starter/solenoid and noticed the contacts on the alternator were badly corroded. Trying to clean them up I torqued off one of lugs. I ordered a new alternator and having notice the day before that my battery charger, an old 6 amp car charger had given up the ghost I ordered a proper 20 amp multistage marine charger. It quickly became apparent that the new charger was putting a lot more juice in the batteries than the old one had. When I installed the alternator The engine started on the first pull, something it had rarely done in the years I had owned the boat. It quickly became apparent that the new alternator was putting a lot more juice in the batteries than the old one had. Bottom line the batteries were never getting properly charged in the first place. It appears that I have overlooked some fairly obvious stuff for a long time, but ... hey. Thanks again for the helpful advise. There are a number of things here that I will keep in mind when this problem comes up again.

Bruce

[Bob Ohler]

Bruce, you may also want to consider the battery cables if they are the originals.