Westerbeke start issue

[PMF1984]

Westerbeke 100 will not start. Ran last week.

Sounds like a week battery as in the solenoid clicks, but the engine will not turn over.

But the battery has just been replaced and just been brought up to charge. (Used dielectric grease on battery connection) Connections on battery all tight.

Battery on off switch is turned on.

What do I check next?

 

[Ski in NC]

Put a wrench on crankshaft pulley nut/bolt and make sure engine can be rotated.

Put a voltmeter on starter terminals and get a helper to energize starter. Read volts. Below like 8v, bad batt or bad connections. 12.5v and starter is not trying to run.

 

[PMF1984]

Thanks Ski,

Will try this in am and report back

 

[GGroves]

You might also check battery cable connections on gen starter motor. With battery disconnected, take off the connectors and clean them with wire brush or emery cloth, then re-connect.
G

 

[stubones99]

Make sure to remove wrench before energizing the starter... Don't ask how I know this...

 

[PMF1984]

Hey there,

I started simple. Removed the battery wiring and cleaned again. The went to next stop on the electron train - the battery on/off switch. Took that apart cleaned up all connections, and also cleaned up all connector ends.

That seemed to work, but I will clean up the wire connection at the starter tomorrow just because why not.

Thanks for all the advice/counsel.

John

 

[Lepke]

After all the contact cleaning, if it still clicks, jump between the small solenoid terminal (sometimes with an S embossed nearby) and the terminal with the battery cable to bypass the key as the problem. If it still fails, try jumping the solenoid heavy terminals with a metal rod. If it turns over, bad solenoid. If it still won't turn over then you have a bad starter.

 

[FF]

Many folks put a voltmeter on the boat to observe the charge level.

If the V meter is instead wired to the starter terminal , it can observe the charge voltage as well as the voltage during engine start.