Thread: Need some input I am baffled.

I am thinking that you have a bad cable or ground. You can run an ohms test on them and they sometimes read fine on the scale but do not have enough wires making contact to handle the high current draw when starting. I would pull off the ground cable at the motor block and clean it and see if that corrects the voltage drop. the motor
If You still have a voltage drop at the starter you can check your cables with your voltmeter to fin out which one it is
Positive Cable---#1 Set test meter to DC volts range that will measure Zero to 12 volts
#2 Connect + lead of meter to + terminal on battery
#3 Then connect - lead of tester to the other end of the positive cable at the starter.
# turn key to start motor while watching the volt meter. If you get a reading of more than 1 volt the cable may be going bad. A good cable the reading is Zero.

Negative cable..... Connect - test lead to - battery post / Then connect +test lead to the other end of cable at motor ground.
Repeat key start and observe volt meter.

I have found cables that have corroded inside the insulation and particularly inside the cable end terminals that appear to be fine.
I hope this helps you out.
Send me a PM if you need. dfar

Originally Posted by dfar

I am thinking that you have a bad cable or ground. You can run an ohms test on them and they sometimes read fine on the scale but do not have enough wires making contact to handle the high current draw when starting. I would pull off the ground cable at the motor block and clean it and see if that corrects the voltage drop. the motor
If You still have a voltage drop at the starter you can check your cables with your voltmeter to fin out which one it is
Positive Cable---#1 Set test meter to DC volts range that will measure Zero to 12 volts
#2 Connect + lead of meter to + terminal on battery
#3 Then connect - lead of tester to the other end of the positive cable at the starter.
# turn key to start motor while watching the volt meter. If you get a reading of more than 1 volt the cable may be going bad. A good cable the reading is Zero

Negative cable..... Connect - test lead to - battery post / Then connect +test lead to the other end of cable at motor ground.
Repeat key start and observe volt meter.

I have found cables that have corroded inside the insulation and particularly inside the cable end terminals that appear to be fine.
I hope this helps you out.
Send me a PM if you need. dfar

X2 on ground.

Bad cable or loose connection.

It only takes one strand to look good on a meter, but when you try to put hundreds of amps through the cable it can't handle it.

The lugs on the ends of the battery cables can corrode inside where you can't see it and cause that problem. You can pinpoint the problem doing a voltage drop test. There are a lot of videos on You Tube showing how to do this.

My 225 ETEC did this exact same thing!! I mean to a Tee!! my mechanic tore the starter apart. A braided wire that connects the brushes to the starter had burt in too where they made a crimped end. take the starter back apart, and look at this wire. we ran all new ground wires, voltages, ohms, and omg's.

If you are measuring the 6.5 volts after the relay I would be concerned about the relay ground or the relay. The 11.5 volts is also a problem to me. I would use jumper cables from one of your trolling motor batteries to your starter battery and recheck your voltages. Remember only one battery for 12 volts. This will confirm if your battery is good and has enough amperage.

Thanks for the input guys. I retested everything tonight and it all tested good to the starter. So i disassemble the starter again and rechecked all the brushes and the stator and found one of the brushes was broke away from the wiring just like fishin_a_ledge talked about. I resoldered it and she fires up like she should.
Now its time to catch some fish.

Good Job