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TL;DR- Starter turns over slow, but eventually catches, don't think it's the battery. What's my next step?
I am the proud, recently new, owner of a 1996 Sport Nautique with the GT-40. I've been in the boat world my whole life, but am new to ownership and doing my own maintenance. I did know enough to change the impeller and oil immediately. In fact, I'm pretty sure the impeller is why I got it for such a good deal. Or maybe not. It's not a perfect boat, but I bought it knowing that. I'm going to post a couple of different topics, rather than rolling them into one.
One issue that I'm running into is what seems like a weak starter. There is a whole list of other things that may factor into this (the driver's safety kill switch has been bypassed; there are two batteries, one in the usual place and one in one of the bins in the playpen, both tied together and neither of which is affected by the battery kill switch in the glove box, a new fuel issue I'll post separately, etc.). However, the first issue with the engine I encountered is that, when turning the key, the engine turns over very slowly before catching strongly. I know there's plenty of juice in the batteries (I've slow charged them to capacity and maintained them with a smart trickle charger, and they've tested strong) but it sounds kind of like a weak battery. It turns over at maybe 1-1.5 cranks per second, typically for about 5-8 seconds before catching.
Having (I think) ruled out the batteries, I'm looking at the starter. I think, from what I've seen that I probably need to change out the whole starter, not just the solenoid. From what I understand, if it was the solenoid, the starter wouldn't engage and I'd just get the click.
So, MY QUESTION TO YOU is, does that seem like a reasonable evaluation? Should I, A) bite the bullet and buy the OEM starter ($440 from Miami Nautique), B) buy another starter that should work ($165 from NautiqueParts.com, or possibly something else), or C) are there other electrical things I still need to look at?
Thanks in advance!
I am the proud, recently new, owner of a 1996 Sport Nautique with the GT-40. I've been in the boat world my whole life, but am new to ownership and doing my own maintenance. I did know enough to change the impeller and oil immediately. In fact, I'm pretty sure the impeller is why I got it for such a good deal. Or maybe not. It's not a perfect boat, but I bought it knowing that. I'm going to post a couple of different topics, rather than rolling them into one.
One issue that I'm running into is what seems like a weak starter. There is a whole list of other things that may factor into this (the driver's safety kill switch has been bypassed; there are two batteries, one in the usual place and one in one of the bins in the playpen, both tied together and neither of which is affected by the battery kill switch in the glove box, a new fuel issue I'll post separately, etc.). However, the first issue with the engine I encountered is that, when turning the key, the engine turns over very slowly before catching strongly. I know there's plenty of juice in the batteries (I've slow charged them to capacity and maintained them with a smart trickle charger, and they've tested strong) but it sounds kind of like a weak battery. It turns over at maybe 1-1.5 cranks per second, typically for about 5-8 seconds before catching.
Having (I think) ruled out the batteries, I'm looking at the starter. I think, from what I've seen that I probably need to change out the whole starter, not just the solenoid. From what I understand, if it was the solenoid, the starter wouldn't engage and I'd just get the click.
So, MY QUESTION TO YOU is, does that seem like a reasonable evaluation? Should I, A) bite the bullet and buy the OEM starter ($440 from Miami Nautique), B) buy another starter that should work ($165 from NautiqueParts.com, or possibly something else), or C) are there other electrical things I still need to look at?
Thanks in advance!
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