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1997 Fast Strike 150 rare intermittent crank issue

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  • #1

    1997 Fast Strike 150 rare intermittent crank issue

    Hi I have a 97 fast strike 150 that I need help with. The problem we are having is that on rare occasion it will not crank. Everything else works fine, lights, livewells, gauges. I have cleaned, all connections at the starting battery and I am comfortable that, that is not the problem. It has happened twice in the last few weeks and unfortunately both time was in the middle of my son's college tournaments. Fortunately both times he was close enough to the marina to troll back. I have not been able to get it to replicate the problem in my presence. I have cranked it many, many times at home and took it out on the water and ran if for 3 or 4 hours, stopping many times and every time it cranked. Yesterday during his tournament he called me when it happened and I just happened to tell him to trim the engine up and down and when he did that, it cranked. Several hours later he called and it would not crank even with trimming up and down. I told him to turn the steering wheel left and right, and again that worked, it cranked. Several more hours later it happened again and this time we could get nothing to work, so he just trolled back. There is no clicking as if the starter solenoid was bad, and there is no spinning as if the starter drive were bad, it just will not turn over. As soon as he backed in the driveway at home, I tried and it fired right up. So I am at a loss, is it a pinched, loose or stretched wire. Is there a defective part somewhere that causes this? For what it is worth, the starter and solenoid are new. They were defective and were replaced a month or so ago. I have thought about it being loose plates in the battery, but then why would the trim and turning the steering wheel fix it temporarily. All help would be greatly appreciated, he has several big tournaments coming in the next month.
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  • #2
    When you say "I have cleaned, all connections at the starting battery and I am comfortable that." and "For what it is worth, the starter and solenoid are new."

    This is a problem that I've encountered hundreds of times in my 30 years plus and almost always was due to a tight but dirty connection.

    I wonder if you cleaned the two connections at the battery terminals only... OR... if you actually removed and cleaned "all" of the cable terminal ends pertaining to the electric starting system such as the ones at the battery switch if one exists and also the ground cable at the powerhead.

    The only thing that has moved in the past that corrected the problem when tilting the engine or turning it back and forth would be the cables at the engine area. The "almost always" mentioned above pertains to a cable that had a strand broken within it and had led to a greenish corrosive problem in the copper strands of the cable itself.

    This corrosive problem is easily detected as the cable will become extreme hot in the damaged area... just be ready to let go of it as soon as you grab it (yes, it gets that hot!).

    Another thought is that the starter armature could have a dead spot in it, but you state that the starter is new.

    Check the rear mounting area (bolt holes) of the starter area and that of the crankcase (block) for a heavy paint buildup. The starter is self grounding and a heavy paint buildup could interfere with that ground.
    Last edited by Joe Reeves; 10-03-2016, 12:49 PM.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Joe Reeves View Post
      When you say "I have cleaned, all connections at the starting battery and I am comfortable that." and "For what it is worth, the starter and solenoid are new."

      This is a problem that I've encountered hundreds of times in my 30 years plus and almost always was due to a tight but dirty connection.

      I wonder if you cleaned the two connections at the battery terminals only... OR... if you actually removed and cleaned "all" of the cable terminal ends pertaining to the electric starting system such as the ones at the battery switch if one exists and also the ground cable at the powerhead.

      The only thing that has moved in the past that corrected the problem when tilting the engine or turning it back and forth would be the cables at the engine area. The "almost always" mentioned above pertains to a cable that had a strand broken within it and had led to a greenish corrosive problem in the copper strands of the cable itself.

      This corrosive problem is easily detected as the cable will become extreme hot in the damaged area... just be ready to let go of it as soon as you grab it (yes, it gets that hot!).

      Another thought is that the starter armature could have a dead spot in it, but you state that the starter is new.

      Check the rear mounting area (bolt holes) of the starter area and that of the crankcase (block) for a heavy paint buildup. The starter is self grounding and a heavy paint buildup could interfere with that ground.
      I have cleaned both connections at the battery. It does not have a battery switch. I will check the paint on the starter and make sure all connections are clean between battery and starter including the solenoid. I will also feel the cables all the way around to see if they are getting excessively hot. I have thought armature but would there be any sort of noise at all near the solenoid or starter if the armature were stuck? Also maybe worth mentioning is that the power pack, plug wires, and optical sensor are new, and came in a kit from CDI electronics. They have been on the engine about 3 weeks. At the time I replaced those the engine was taking a long time to start cold and so I took a chance and replaced those and that fixed the cold start issue. Thanks a bunch for the reply.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by vafisher View Post
        Hi I have a 97 fast strike 150 that I need help with. The problem we are having is that on rare occasion it will not crank. Everything else works fine, lights, livewells, gauges. I have cleaned, all connections at the starting battery and I am comfortable that, that is not the problem. It has happened twice in the last few weeks and unfortunately both time was in the middle of my son's college tournaments. Fortunately both times he was close enough to the marina to troll back. I have not been able to get it to replicate the problem in my presence. I have cranked it many, many times at home and took it out on the water and ran if for 3 or 4 hours, stopping many times and every time it cranked. Yesterday during his tournament he called me when it happened and I just happened to tell him to trim the engine up and down and when he did that, it cranked. Several hours later he called and it would not crank even with trimming up and down. I told him to turn the steering wheel left and right, and again that worked, it cranked. Several more hours later it happened again and this time we could get nothing to work, so he just trolled back. There is no clicking as if the starter solenoid was bad, and there is no spinning as if the starter drive were bad, it just will not turn over. As soon as he backed in the driveway at home, I tried and it fired right up. So I am at a loss, is it a pinched, loose or stretched wire. Is there a defective part somewhere that causes this? For what it is worth, the starter and solenoid are new. They were defective and were replaced a month or so ago. I have thought about it being loose plates in the battery, but then why would the trim and turning the steering wheel fix it temporarily. All help would be greatly appreciated, he has several big tournaments coming in the next month.
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        • #5
          Originally posted by vafisher View Post
          I have thought armature but would there be any sort of noise at all near the solenoid or starter if the armature were stuck?
          If one portion of the armature commutator had no contact continuity with the brushes, that would prevent the starter from turning even though full voltage was applied... BUT... if one turned the armature manually just 1/4" to have the brush sitting on another portion of the commutator, the starter would function and usually would be turning so fast that it would skip over the bad portion.

          However, in either case... and even if the starter wasn't installed, turning the key to the START position should enable the starter solenoid to engage where you would hear the audible "CLICK" and a full 12v should be present at the cable that would normally be attached to the starter.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Joe Reeves View Post
            If one portion of the armature commutator had no contact continuity with the brushes, that would prevent the starter from turning even though full voltage was applied... BUT... if one turned the armature manually just 1/4" to have the brush sitting on another portion of the commutator, the starter would function and usually would be turning so fast that it would skip over the bad portion.

            However, in either case... and even if the starter wasn't installed, turning the key to the START position should enable the starter solenoid to engage where you would hear the audible "CLICK" and a full 12v should be present at the cable that would normally be attached to the starter.
            I got to work on it for about 30 minutes this evening. Several things, 1st is that there was some corrosion on a circuit breaker that was underneath the hot cable at the battery. Not much, but enough to be cleaned. The next 2 things are questions. 1st, you mentioned the power pack ground. I have it grounded between the coil and the power pack. Is this the correct spot? 2nd, does the starter solenoid have to be grounded to the starter? The solenoid is an aftermarket Ford solenoid and is basically only held on by the hot connector. Should I buy the OE and the clamp that bolts it to the starter.

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            • #7
              I did not mention a power-pack ground.... I spoke of the negative battery cable being connected tightly to the "power-head" (the crankcase/block)

              With the negative battery cable connected to the power-head, the entire power-head/crankcase/block is a grounding point.

              Get rid of that Ford starter solenoid and install the proper one that belongs there. The ground wire from the starter solenoid simply attaches to the power-head.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Joe Reeves View Post
                I did not mention a power-pack ground.... I spoke of the negative battery cable being connected tightly to the "power-head" (the crankcase/block)

                With the negative battery cable connected to the power-head, the entire power-head/crankcase/block is a grounding point.

                Get rid of that Ford starter solenoid and install the proper one that belongs there. The ground wire from the starter solenoid simply attaches to the power-head.
                Ok, got it. I will get the solenoid and clamp ordered today. Also today I will pull and clean all connections at the engine, along with making sure that paint isn't an issue.

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