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Starter issues (Challenger 200 240 efi)

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gerrychuck

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Ran into issues starting my 2002 Challenger 2000 this weekend. Started fine at the boat launch and 20 minutes later when I took it back out for another test run, but the next day it wouldn't; starter did not seem to engage. Put a booster pack battery on and it started and ran, but trying half an hour it was back to spinning but not engaging. Tried the booster again without any luck. Took the battery out and charged it from my truck, reinstalled, no luck. Battery will run the inverter to power my airdock pump just fine, which it won't do if the battery is not putting out proper voltage (believe me!), so I am pretty confident the battery itself is okay. Took the cover off the top of the powerhead to expose the starter gear; starter spins but the gear does not pop up to engage the ring gear. My mechanic son was helping me troubleshoot; gently prying on the starter gear it would come up part way but stop hard well short of the ring gear. Not sure if this is normal. Unfortunately, we did not have any electrical testing equipment with us to help with diagnosis.

I am assuming the problem is the solenoid, but would appreciate any help. Question: where is the solenoid located? Is it remote from the starter?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
Unfortunately, I can't get the SN for the motor right now; I'm 3 hours away from the boat here at home:( I do have the VIN for the boat; is that any help? It is USCEC35490J102, and the boat is a 2002.
 
Nope... doesn't help. The change was in 2001-1/2 from mercury. The problem is... a "2002" model year boat could have been produced as early as the beginning of 2001.


But... the rough answer is... yes, the solenoid is separate, and should be mounted close to the starter. On the early engine... the bendix just kicked out by velocity. SO... it needs to be free, and the battery needs to be strong.

On the newer engine... there was a lifting solenoid to push out the gear.


regardless... if it's stuck... you should pull the starter, and clean/grease the shaft, and any moving parts.
 
Okay. So two questions: First, the starter shaft should pull out freely (aside from the spring resistance)? Mine doesn't feel like it's sticking; it is a hard "thunk" type of stop when we try to pull it up. Also, I don't believe there was any upward movement at all when the starter spun; there was 1/4 to 1/2" of movement available when we moved it by hand, but when I keyed the starter it just spun in place.

Second, if cleaning/greasing the shaft doesn't fix the problem, I would probably have to replace the solenoid on the newer engine, or the entire starter on the older one? I have my suspicions my engine uses the older starter, as my son was vainly searching for the solenoid and was not finding one (he's an automotive and agricultural mechanic).

Thanks so much for your help on this.
 
gerrychuck said:
First, the starter shaft should pull out freely (aside from the spring resistance)?
Click to expand...


Yes.


gerrychuck said:
Second, if cleaning/greasing the shaft doesn't fix the problem, I would probably have to replace the solenoid on the newer engine, or the entire starter on the older one?
Click to expand...


Solenoid is a bad description on this one (but that's what it's called) The "Electrical Solenoid" sounds like it's working. If you hit the key, and the starter spins... it's working.


Regardless (new/old) just take it apart and do an inspection. Don't assume you need a mechanical part yet. If you want to make an assumption... just order a new starter. But... you will still need to verify what version you have. If someone can look at your boat... the S/N is on the engine in a few locations.


Let me ask you this (since you are away from the boat) Is the top plastic engine cover round, or more rectangle?
 
Looking at the parts diagrams on boats.net, I am pretty sure which starter I have; the diagram for 0E406400 and up does not appear to be the unit on my boat; certainly there is no piggyback solenoid on mine:

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/M...406400 & Up/Starter Motor Assembly/parts.html

This looks much more like the beast:

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/M...RU 0E406399/Starter Motor Assembly/parts.html

In particular I note the absence of the solenoid assembly, and the spring assembly on top of the drive gear shaft (reference #2 on the diagram) which my starter has and which does not seem to be present on the newer starter.
 
Update: Flew down to the lake today, removed the starter and brought it home. Before disassembling it, a few taps with a hammer allowed the gear to spin up the shaft, which I could see was dry and rusty once the gear was at the top. I hit it with a good dose of WD-40 and got the gear moving smoothly, but when we applied power from my truck, the motor once again spun without the gear jacking up at all. Since the gear now moves up smoothly by hand, could the motor simply not be spinning fast enough to jack it up? I want to disassemble it more completely, but had difficulty breaking the nut on top of the pinion shaft loose. My son is taking it in to his shop tomorrow and will spin it off with an impact, after which we will have a look inside and see if there's anything else that can be cleaned, lubed, or is obviously faulty.
 
Took the starter apart tonight; nothing obviously amiss - brushes look okay, armature looks okay, bushings and shafts look okay. Fair amount of carbon built up on the inside of the magnets toward the bottom of the casing. I cleaned that up with 600 grit paper and also polished the armature and cleaned up the shafts. Wiped off the bushings. Nothing appeared to have grease on it, or actually appeared to require it, so I wasn't sure if applying any lubricants was a good idea; reassembled the motor without any further lube (for now anyway). Haven't had a chance to apply power yet to see if it works any better, but the shaft does seem to turn more freely, and there was a bit of a catch when moving it before that is not there now. Gear spins up easily when moved by hand. Any key steps or items missed here?
 
Inside should be dry... but I would have put a small wipe of waterproof grease on the shaft where the Bendix slides.
 
Apparent success: Put power through the starter tonight and the bendix pops up now. Starter spins much faster now as well. Will put the starter back on the boat this weekend and keep my fingers crossed.
 
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