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Hi all,
I am a rookie BW owner, I have a 74 Katama with a 88 hp Evinrude that has become very difficult to start. It has good compression in all 4 cylinders (120-125), spark, fuel and full voltage to starter, but the starter spins the flywheel sluggishly. With plugs out the starter spins great, making me think the starter is good, but could be because it has no compression holding it back. Any ideas would be appreciated.

thanks Rich

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Hi Rich and welcome. Keep in mind that sometimes voltage can look good but current can still have an issue getting through with a bad/loose/internally corroded connection, and that's what'll give you problems like what you're experiencing. First off, make sure ALL connections are clean and tight. Even if they look good, it's worth removing, cleaning, and retightening. Second, test all the heavy duty cables by putting a volt meter across the begining and end of the cable, and watch the voltage when you crank the engine. A good cable and connectors will be very low voltage reading, but a bad one will give you a readable voltage drop. Give this a go and see what you find.

Dave

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You have low voltage going to the motor. The old OMC will turn the flywheel over with 12 or less volts however, they will not fire off the coils unless there is 12 or more volts. I would look at first getting a new battery, then replacing the battery cables. I had this problem with my 22 Outrage when I first got it. Turned out to be both in my case.

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Thanks guys for the advice and the welcome, looking forward to really enjoying this BW with my family.
Let me add that I have put 2 new batlteries in the boat and bypassed the cables with a set of jumper cables to see if it was the cables losing voltage, but got the same results. I am getting about 8volts at the starter when testing it? doesnt seem like enough juice. What do you think?
Thanks,
Rich

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Well jumper cables can have their own issues... The real thing that you need to focus on in high current draw applications like this is the pressure of the connection, the better that is, the more current (and less resistance/heat/voltage drop you'll have). Sometimes you can't get the jumper cables to bite tight enough on a lug. So my rec would be to remove and clean all the battery cable connections and make sure they're tight when you reassemble. Also, take a look at the starter itself, look at the cable lug and check for looseness, look at the mount and make sure it's clean and tight (it's the ground path), and also check the spindle for excessive looseness. Your voltage at the starter is way too low and there's got to be a reason for the drop somewhere in that circuit.....

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Hi Guys,
Just wanted to say thanks for your help, as it turns out it was a bad connector combined with the starter not gorunded very well. We now have good voltage and a nice running engine.
Thanks again
Rich

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Put some white "Lithium" grease on the battery post connections to prevent corrosion, and to keep battery connections in good working order.
mw