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Motor died and now nothing happens when turning key

G

Greg7

New member
2007 BF225.

When pulling out of marina today motor started to stumble so I gave it some throttle but then I heard a beep and the motor shut down completely.

When I try to restart nothing happens. The ignition doesn't even do the normal beep when I first turn the key and the battery/water/oil lights don't come on either.

I noticed the trim/tilt only works if the key is in the off position. There's still power to everything else and if I jump the starter solenoid the starter spins but doesn't engage the motor.

Also noticed there is more than normal resistance if I try to shift into forward or reverse. Not sure if that's just because the motor is off though.

Tried wiggling wires and the ignition key and checked most of the fuses I could before SeaTow showed up but still no luck.

Any ideas?
 
You should not be shifting with the motor not running.----First step for me would be a load test on the battery.
 
How do you secure the battery cables to the battery? Did you check the condition of the cables and ends? How old is the battery and has it been discharged to the point of zero Volts, especially during cold weather? It's bad to do that once, multiple times is really bad for a battery.

Try a different battery, even before the load test- with a depleted battery, the starter may not spin fast enough for the Bendix to move.
 
Batteries are going on 2 years old. Cables are connected to threaded battery posts with nut and washer. Connections were fairly clean but I did take them apart and clean them anyway. Multi meter was showing 12.2 on one battery and 12.3 on the other. I hooked a charger up to them this morning and will be checking it later today.

Also ordered a new ignition which should be here tomorrow.
 
They charged to 12.9v

Turning the key still does absolutely nothing.

I was able to jump the starter and get the motor to turn over. It sounded good but it won't fire up.

Could a faulty ignition switch keep the motor from starting?
 
Check the voltage at all connections from the switch to the starter on the outboard with the key on. When you are getting voltage with the key on, then check to see if the voltage holds with the key in the start position. You may have a bad component like a neutral safety switch or kill switch or a bad power or ground connection when under load.
 
NSDON said:
Check the voltage at all connections from the switch to the starter on the outboard with the key on. When you are getting voltage with the key on, then check to see if the voltage holds with the key in the start position. You may have a bad component like a neutral safety switch or kill switch or a bad power or ground connection when under load.
Click to expand...
Will do. Thanks for the tip
 
I would load test both batteries. Make sure your engine ground from the battery is good. Look very carefully at the cables, do you see any evidence of green corrosion under the insulation? If so have new cables made up. Do not use wing nuts at the battery they don’t stay tight.

Then turn on the battery switch and check the ignition switch for power. There are 3 terminals to be concerned with:
B…red wire, should have battery voltage with battery switch ON
I….purple wire….should have battery voltage with the ignition turned ON
S…yellow red wire…should have battery voltage with key turned to start….
Check the ignition fuse first I’ve had that happen where the terminals are oxidized and current won’t pass even if the fuse is not blown! Tilt & trim worked (on a separate circuit) but anything on the ignition circuit did not (starter, gauges).
 
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Installed the new ignition today. When I turn the key the batt/temp/engine lights come on and it beeps but still won't turn over. The beep is long and constant though and slowly dies out along with all the lights. If I try turning the key to start it the lights get dimmer but nothing else happens. I'll see if I can add a video of it.

I'm thinking this has to be a bad ground somewhere. Im still able to jump the starter and turn the motor over but it still won't fire. I also noticed that when I try and turn it over with the key sometimes the tilt/trim won't work until it sits for a few minutes and then it will work again.

Also the navigation lights and underwater lights don't come on. These are both on separate rocker switches from each other.

This is what it did when I first tried with new ignition

Then for whatever reason only the green light would stay on and a dim check engine light but when I turn the key the dim check engine light goes out and fades back on.

CEL fading back on after turning key
(All the clicking toward the end was me turning on/off battery switches. Tried cutting that out but it wouldn't let me upload an edited video)
 
Electrical faults can be difficult to find.-----You might be better off to visit a shop.-----Hidden faults can lead to a fire and a shopping trip for another boat.
 
I found it! One of these three cables must have a break in it right around where it goes into the motor. Pulled the cables upward and alarm started going off, dashboard lit up and fuel pump turned on. Let go of the cables and everything went dim again. Pulled them up and everything is back on. Now time to replace them. And the fuel line while I'm at it. Hopefully tomorrow. Ran out of daylight tonight.
https://imgur.com/a/6lElrne
 
Anyone happen to know what gauge wire those three are? There's two that are the same and then a smaller diameter one.
 
Great detective work. All it takes is some chafing and moisture and time! I wonder what you’d see if you measured the resistance of the cable end to end vs a good cable?
You can also get a length of that plastic flexible conduit to cover the cables where they go thru there….
 
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