08-19-2014, 02:31 PM
I assume by "nothing" you mean the boat wouldn't even turn over -- as if it had no power at all.
I had a similar spurious issue with a boat that would occasionally refuse to turn over and sometimes would just stop while running as if the key were shut off.
A few items I found on my old boat that were causing this:
1 -- The neutral detect switch was bad. It would stick so the boat "thought" it wasn't in neutral when it was. Replaced.
2 -- Loose/dirty battery connections. Make sure the connections are tight and clean to the battery. Not enough juice = no happy starty
3 -- Frayed wires on the key switch and some wires "under the hood" were aging and needed replacement. I'm in electronics so this was something I just did.
My 1976 Merc is happy for the moment.... knock on wood
How old is the boat motor?
[signature]
I had a similar spurious issue with a boat that would occasionally refuse to turn over and sometimes would just stop while running as if the key were shut off.
A few items I found on my old boat that were causing this:
1 -- The neutral detect switch was bad. It would stick so the boat "thought" it wasn't in neutral when it was. Replaced.
2 -- Loose/dirty battery connections. Make sure the connections are tight and clean to the battery. Not enough juice = no happy starty
3 -- Frayed wires on the key switch and some wires "under the hood" were aging and needed replacement. I'm in electronics so this was something I just did.
My 1976 Merc is happy for the moment.... knock on wood
How old is the boat motor?
[signature]