Ford Lehman Help!

So I have a Ford Lehman on a 36 foot 1976 Marine Trader Trawler, and she won't turn over? Doesn't even try! I'm thinking dead battery even though my voltmeter says she puts out 12.5 volts. I turn the key and press the start button, it clicks but nothing! Any help would be appreciated!

I sometimes run another guys boat, 40 foot albin, 6 pack fishing charter. Lately I had a similar problem starting it. Wiring to the starter was loose, fixed it, still nothing. Tapped on the starter with a hammer a couple times while the deck hand hit the juice, fired right up. Figure his starter is going out soon...

First jump the small solenoid that is attached to the starter motor. If you don't know how to jump the solenoid get one of the maintenance books. Basically there are four cables going to the solenoid, two large, two small, you need a jumper at least as large as the large cable.

This will tell you if the solenoid is out which is the most usual item.

If that doesn't work check the voltage at the solenoid coming from the battery bank to see if there is corrosion in the cable.

Mine did the same thing, jumping the small relay on top of the starter took care of it. Turned out to be corrosion on the attached wire connectors, easy fix.

Cheers! I'll give that a try!

It's in gear? Push the start button in and hold it down while you slowly move the gear lever back and forth.

Neutral with 1/3 throttle.

There is a neutral start-inhibit switch that Capt Bill is talking about. Make sure the gear is in neutral, sometimes the switch causes what you describe.

Hm, I don't think mine has one. Would it be any place particular?

FWIW, not all boats have this feature. Our GB36 with twin FL120s and BW Velvet Drive transmissions does not, and never did judging by the original operator's manual.

Marin said:

FWIW, not all boats have this feature. Our GB36 with twin FL120s and BW Velvet Drive transmissions does not, and never did judging by the original operator's manual.

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Hmmm...that would make it the first GB I think I've ever seen/heard of without neutral lock outs.

I wonder if somebody changed/disabled them? Careful at start up.

The clicking sounds like a solenoid meaning the neutral switc is not preventing starting.

The usual suspect is dirty connections on battery terminals, grounds , etc. next is bad battery cell , solenoid or starter but check and clean connections and measure battery volts after charger has been off for hours then report back.

No neutral safety on my Albin either. Not having a switch is pretty common

I agree below, if no clicking sound at all then "typically" neutral safety switch, if you hear clicking then do as bayview stated: 12.5 volts also sounds a little low if the charger was on.

bayview said:

The clicking sounds like a solenoid meaning the neutral switc is not preventing starting.

The usual suspect is dirty connections on battery terminals, grounds , etc. next is bad battery cell , solenoid or starter but check and clean connections and measure battery volts after charger has been off for hours then report back.

Click to expand...

Capt.Bill11 said:

Hmmm...that would make it the first GB I think I've ever seen/heard of without neutral lock outs.

I wonder if somebody changed/disabled them? Careful at start up.

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Nope. The boat was never built with them. No hardware for it on the engines or transmissions, no inclusion of them in the boat's schematic in the owners manual. No mention of them in the operations section of the manual. Other people I've met with similar or older vintage GBs have told me their boats don't have neutral lockouts, either.

Never been a problem. While we've never started the engines in gear, I don't see that it would be detrimental other than perhaps being a bit harder on the starter.

Here's a video of my turn on routine. When I put the phone down that's when I turn the key to the far far and press the start button at the same time.

WOW...the first thing I would do is make the red handle the throttle and black the gearshift like every other boat I've ever been on...that's downright scary....maybe that's your problem if the black handle is never in the center where the neutral switch is.

Couldn't tell one thing from the video...you need to check voltage all the way through the system and solenoids for activation.

As Bay Pelican and maybe others posted...you need to learn how to start from the solenoid end of things so the start circuit can be eliminated or IDed as the culprit.

I'll try reversing the levers when I get home tonight. Although when I entered the boat right after the purchase they where in the position they are in now, my assumption is red- forward, revers, neutral and green- throttle.

kyle911 said:

I'll try reversing the levers when I get home tonight. Although when I entered the boat right after the purchase they where in the position they are in now, my assumption is red- forward, revers, neutral and green- throttle.

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Sorry to be a wet blanket Kyle, but assuming there is no deficient contact along the way, and the battery is up there enough to not be it, then that click is indeed the solenoid attempting to activate the starter, and if bridging the solenoid does not work, and it is not that often the solenoid alone that's the issue, then like I had to do on my FL 120 about a year after I bought it, you will probably be up for a recondition of the starter motor itself. Not in itself all that costly actually, and mine has never missed a beat ever since, now 11 years later. The brushes etc do wear eventually, but it is not a bad thing to have happen now, and not when far away from a good mechanic. Get her re-con'd and you'll not regret it. Unless, that is, you find a silly simple explanation in the immediate future.

Oh yes,, it won't be your levers. Mine does not have a lock-out either, and I think the colour of the knobs is back to front on mine as well, but what the hell…as long as you know which does what…I have applied dymo label stickers to designate throttle and gears and what is cruise speed, forward, reverse etc so it is idiot proof - nearly.

kyle911 said:

Here's a video of my turn on routine. When I put the phone down that's when I turn the key to the far far and press the start button at the same time.

Click to expand...

Kyle, just a thought - looking at your video there. My boat is older than yours, but it has the option of turning the key to far right, then further to activate the starter from the key, like a car, or you can leave the key in the on position (just short of far right), and press the start button, which is what I do, whereas the wife likes to use the key start. I don't think you should be turning the key to the start position AND pressing the start button, that might cause an issue. Not sure tho, as I have never tried that. You don't need to do them simultaneously anyway, the key will stay in the on position by itself. JUst try that, then press the button. Don't let the low oil pressure buzzer bother you, that will stop when the motor starts, and oil pressure comes up, but does no harm to anything of itself. However, I still think a starter re-con is imminent. We got by for a few months with tapping the starter motor with a rubber mallet, while someone turned the keystart, which used to set her going on the occasion we got the dreaded 'click', but in the end that clearly was not a good thing to have to do. Murphy's law and all that.

Marin said:

Never been a problem. While we've never started the engines in gear, I don't see that it would be detrimental other than perhaps being a bit harder on the starter.

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It's not a problem for the engines to start in gear. But it can be a problem for those around/near them or the boat when it happens. Hence the reason for the switch.

And sometimes the clicking you hear is a built in battery paralling switch and not the start solenoid if the engines are in gear with a neutral lock out switch installed.

Seems we are down the rabbit hole here. I assume that you are trying to start the way you always did so getting all excited about knob colors isn't going to help.

Go back to checking the connections, battery and solenoid as above before getting too excited about replacing stuff. That meter reading tells you nothing about the voltage under load to the starter.

Yup! Corroded batteries! Cleaned them up, turned her on she started right up and purred into the lake. A friend was nice enough to teach me how to drive the damn the damn thing, just in time for winter.....

It sounds like your solenoid is good but there may be a "flat spot" in the armature of your starter motor. My Lehman does the same thing, but by continuing to press the start button it eventually will crank over.
Sometimes a tap on the starter motor casing with a hammer will move it enough to pass the flat spot on the armature. Recommend having the starter rebuilt if it will eventually crank.

+1…!

As I have said before, I totally agree with getting your starter motor reconditioned. Worn brushes and armature are what bring things like dirty contacts to light, mainly because of the huge increase in current needed to turn them over. If you don't do it, you'll find yourself like I did, tapping and knocking on the starter motor, frantically trying to get it to go in trying circumstances, usually when a quick getaway is crucial. In our case my one and only time getting caught in a Southerly buster, on a lee shore, in the dark, and with my (original) CQR anchor dragging. (I now have a Sarca, but that's another whole story.) Don't do this to yourself or your family.

I once ran a guys boat (36 pacemaker) with star shift ca. on wrong end of shifter bell crank,try bring that thing into a slip! You CAN do it, but WHY?? fix the knobs a.s.a.p. before someone throws your eng. in reverse at 2500 RPM Rich

Peter B said:

+1…!

As I have said before, I totally agree with getting your starter motor reconditioned.

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Agree 100%! It was probably the best ~$100 spent on my boat.