Port motor not cranking .........RESOLVED

D

Doral 310

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exMember
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
RO Number
13068
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168
2003 Volvo 5.7 GI Port side Turn the key and all I get is a click in the ignition relay that is located in the fuse box on top of the motor. Pulled the relay put it back in and the motor started. The next time I tried to start,nothing, just a click at the relay. Swapped out the relay from the starboard motor and both motors started fine. After 3-4 starts on the port motor, it will only click again at the relay. Starboard motor has been starting every time with the original port relay. So I do not think its the relay. Battery is strong. Sifter is in nuteral. Could the fuse box gone bad? Not sure where else to look. Thanks for your help.

Turned out to be the fuse/relay box on top of the motor. But I now also have good clean connections at the starter, engine ground and battery, Thanks for all the advise.
 
Here's what I would probably do after starting checking battery condition with my analyzer or load tester, cleaning battery and battery switch connections and making sure they are tight.

Check for very clean , tight connections at the starter solenoid and at the main battery neg to engine ground.
Try jumping from the battery + to the batt terminal on the solenoid.
If nothing, then move the jumper cable to the solenoid terminal holding the +wire going into the starter.
If still nothing , add a jumper from the battery neg to clean bare metal engine ground fastener to augment the existing neg ground cable.

Do not do this if there is any gas fume odor , as there will be some sparks unless you build in a high amp switch to the jumper. Run the blower anyway.

If still nothing , I'd probably haul the starter and test again with jumpers and open up to clean commutator and inspect brushes .
But as that is probably a standard LH engine in 2003 it likely had a newer type permanent magnet starter (no nose cone) and should be even more reliable than the old heavier type if not subjected to undue corrosive influences or prolonged low voltage/high amp starts.

If this was an I/B I might also suggest looking at the neutral safety switch on the transmission but I'd expect that Doral would have I/O's , plus I don't think the relay should click if your shifter neutral safety start switch was out of position.

Others more wisely electrically-minded than I would surely advise checking for excess voltage drop at each step of the primary and secondary starting circuits. (There are a bunch of uTube videos showing how to do that on starting and other circuits. )
 
Hmm, I just noticed you said click at the "ignition relay", not starter relay. Have you checked the fuse for the starter relay if separate? Are you referring to plug in relays or old style threaded stud remote relay? It may just be a case of semantics.
FWIW, my 2003 Crusader GM 5.7L MPI's have 3 modern plug-in relays on the engine , MEFI-4 System, Fuel Pump and Starter Relay(primary circuit to secondary) . There are 3 corresponding on-engine 20 A (yellow)spade fuses, though I'm not positive how direct the relationship is with that starter relay.

Primary side of the starter relay has yel/red positive feed from the neutral safety switch(from the ign switch) , and blk back to engine ground.
Secondary side has red/wht power feed from a common positive power point from battery and alternator . Secondary output goes to the starter solenoid.
 
Any solenoid is basically an electro magnet. The clicking means it's working. The problem come from the high amp connections, either in the solenoid or the high amp connector on the starter or starter solenoid. Clean all the high amp connectors. Remove ground at the batt before any electrical work.
 
I know from experience and mechanic explanation that the "slave solenoid" used in MerCruiser is a weak link in their system. Has four stud terminals for and is very bad about clicking but not closing its circuit down to the actual starter, which has a solenoid also. Does this V-P use that? If so, I'd suspect it. We had one fail that would work immediately after charging the battery but not just on a fully charged battery.
 
Had similar problem on Port engine couple of weeks ago. Turned out to be bad negative ground cable connection at engine block.
 
The first thing to do is always clean the battery terminals and make sire it is well charged.
 
Well thanks for all the ideas and advice. I went and did all the easy things, cleaned all connections, made sure ground was good to the engine. All battery connections like new. I even swapped out the battery form the starboard motor. After twenty tries nothing just the same click at the relay. Then I had a mechanic stop by. He removed and reinstalled the ignition relay in the fuse box (which I did about 10 times) and the motor started. And it has continued to start for like ten more times. This is very frustrating not knowing when the next time it won't start. Could the fuse box have gone bad? It looks like it's sealed properly and do not see any corrosion from the top.
 
I had an annoying engine momentary hesitation issue every so often for a couple years and I just could not find the culprit with ... plenty .... of sleuthing and a diagnostic scanner. It turned out to be a very slightly bent tiny pin on the fuel pump relay connector, found during an engine wiring Wiggle Test with key On .

I couldn't even tell it was bent when a dealer tech ( checking for the problem on a 3rd visit for that) finally found & showed it to me, but he tweaked it , reinserted and it's worked fine the last 8 yrs or more. I would not have thought that a pin that was bent enough to not make proper contact would even allow a connector to go together, but you live and learn and throw bucket$.
 
Was that a blade type fuse? Those things are very hard to clean the contacts. I would locate the wires for that fuse and put in an external fuse (bypass the fuse box) so it would be easier to replace next time.

That's a new one on me but I've run across the 'bent' or corroded pin problem on the big main connector before.
 
Could be the ignition switch itself. Sometimes moisture gets in and kills them. If so, it's a cheap and easy fix.
 
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