Battery switch starts engine!?

[gabe522]

hello all!
I bought an Irwin 28.5 with an A4 a couple years ago. Boat hasn't been touched for 2 years. i finally got her to fire up, but i realized that the engine starts as soon as i turn on the battery switch and the starter seems to continue to crank and spark so i am forced to immediately shut her down. This wasn't happening when i laid her up 2 years ago. I replaced the ignition as to rule out a faulty ignition switch and it still happens. Has anyone experienced this before? Please help! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!

[Don Moyer]

Something is clearly short-circuiting between battery power and the "S" terminal of your starter. Since you report seeing your starter sparking, I'm wondering if something (metal) fell against the back of your starter solenoid and is shorting between the big battery cable and the "S" terminal just below.

Don

[gabe522]

Yup! That was it! Short curcuit on back of starting solenoid. I took off the starter and fixed the short. Put it back on and turned on the battery switch and nothing happened. (yay) then I turned the ignition and "vroom" fired rite up!!
The engine ran well. I had the the hose hooked up to the outside of the hull via a plunger style hose connection. The engine got really hot and no water coming out of exhaust. I checked the hoses throughout the engine and water seems to be going as far as the muffler. every hose except the one going from the muffler to the stern of the boat was hot and seemingly pressurized. Is it possible to have a clog in the muffler? Is there usually a valve on the muffler? This may be the reason for the original problem when I boat the boat 2.5 years ago when there was water in the oil.
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!
Gabe

[sastanley]

gabe....if the boat is still on shore, pull the hose from the thru-hull or the pump intake and stick it in a bucket. I am not sure the pump can pull water from a plunger (outboard style??) fitting. I even had a little trouble getting it to suck from a bucket at first, but after removing the air it seemed to be fine. I found the pump sucked about 1 gallon per minute. A water hose to replenish the bucket could give unlimited run time for testing.

There are a lot of posts on here regarding bypass/aux intakes for flushing or running on shore..Some of them are fancier than others. I simply pull the hose off the thru-hull and stuff it in a bucket.

Glad you got the initial problem fixed :cool:

[rigspelt]

Advice seems to be not to apply pressurized garden hose to run boat on the hard, since water could fill the muffler and backfill into the manifold and cylinders. Another reason for allowing the pump to suck water from a bucket kept full of water.

Might check the water pump impeller again.

[policecentral]

Sorry to disagree. I installed a T fitting in the water intake line many years ago. I feed this with a "pressurized garden hose" regularly, but I have installed a garden hose screw-on valve (about two bucks at the hardware store) on the end of the hose.

Close the raw water seacock. Start the engine, then open the valve on the hose and run as long as you wish. Close the valve, shut off the engine, disconnect the garden hose and screw on the cap to the T fitting. I have had no problems with this method for years and have I no concern about "filling up the muffler". Hauling a bucket down below, filling it and monitoring it so it doesn't suck dry sounds like a pain to me.

Policecentral
Ranger 30
Savannah

[gabe522]

This site is FANTASTIC!!!! I will probably get down to her monday and/or tuesday.... I'll let you all know how it goes. Actually i'll probably be back with more questions.haha
Thanks

[sastanley]

That's usually how it works Gabe....there are a lot of folks here that have 'been there, done that!' :cool:

We all think this site is fantastic too. :)

[gabe522]

OK I sure did back water into the oil. pumped it all out and fill back up with fresh oil. took off the muffler emptied it out and sucked it clean with a shopvac put it back on and tried again. engine starts right up up. I did take the hose off the thru hull and put it in a bucket of water. started her up and ran for a couple minutes. She didn't suck any water at all. what sould i do next? water pump? im stuck

[roadnsky]

Check the impeller and water pump first. (While you're in there look at the cam shoe condition too)
Also, make sure that hose from the bucket to the intake on the water pump is clear too. Sounds simple, but...;)
-Jerry

[tenders]

It isn't unusual for the water pump to fail to prime itself if it has to suck a good bit of air through the hose before the water hits it. I always try to keep the water in the bucket higher than the engine, so gravity/siphon power is working with me, and sometimes I pour a couple of cups of water into the hose to fill it up before I start the engine. As has been mentioned, this may be a sign of a worn impeller or shoe, but it doesn't mean the pump won't pump properly when the hose is installed properly on the throughhull/seacock, below the waterline.

[rheaton]

Also, my setup has a Tee valve between my seacock and the water pump. This allows me to bypass the thruhull and draw water from a bucket. If you have a similar setup, be sure you close the seacock valve and open the Tee valve to the hose in your bucket.

Best of luck,

Russ

[sastanley]

I agree with tenders..you likely have an airlock. When I first ran my motor on shore, I couldn't get it to suck water out of the bucket. Try getting the hose full of water if you can before starting so the pump can more easily prime. Also, using the shortest piece of hose you can helps too (less distance to pull the water.)

As also mentioned, this is usually not a problem when in the water, since the water pump is usually below the boat's water line.