Its time to fix the Starter

The starter had been on again off again from the start of the season and again I put this fix off rather than sacrifice sailing time to address it. After doing a bit of research at the beginning of the season I had learned that a voltage drop can occur between the button and the starter resulting in the symptoms we were experiencing. I ordered a starter relay which is supposed to correct the voltage drop and had that in received it a few weeks earlier. In addition to doing my research I spoke with another club member (Glenn) who was an expert on starters and he explained that if shorting the solenoid didn’t correct the problem it was likely not a voltage drop issue since I was bypassing the long run of wire back to the buttonL He suggested I remove the starter and he could test it on the bench (it may just need new brushes etc…) So with this good advice I decided to remove the starter. The starter is located on the port side of the engine accessed through a small opening in one of lower cupboards in the galley. I think Yanmar tried to locate it in the most difficult spot possible. There are only two bolts that connect the starter to the engine but wow are they hard to get at. I tried a socket with a universal joint etc... I tried an open ended wrench but couldn’t get one of the bolts to budge. I gave it a good dose of penetrating fluid and let it sit for the night, let’s see what tomorrow will bring. Well tomorrow is here and I am still not having any luck. I will give it some more penetrating fluid and let it sit for a few days. I stopped by parts for trucks and asked their advice and they sold me expensive penetrating fluid. I sprayed some of the new stuff on and let it sit for a day and voila, I was able to break it freeJ I was then able to get the starter out and deliver it to Glenn for testing. The starter tested great but we could verify that the solenoid was good so I decided to replace it on spec. I also installed the starter relay I had purchased and re-installed the starter with the new solenoid.

It’s now time to give it a test……my fingers are crossed the key is on now let’s try that button….Vroooom. Wow the starter has never worked like that, I never even got half a crank out of it before the engine fired up. I have tested it several times since always getting exactly the same great result sweet, problem solved