Peculiar engine starting issue

[Frankh27]

Yes ... believe it or not this problem reared its ugly head on two entirely different boats. The first was a 2013 Tidewater center console with the Yamaha F150. Out of the blue, it won't crank one day while boating with friends. My wife said "turn the motor" ... my response to her was "yeah right." So I turned the motor fully right and it started and ran without a hiccup. From that day on, I had to turn the motor right to start it. A year later, our 2000 Hurricane with the Yamaha C115 wouldn't crank one day at the dock. I checked the battery, throttle lock-out, kill-switch ... all normal. Decided to try the "turn the wheel" trick and the darn thing started. Been having to turn the steering wheel right since that day to get it started. I'm not making this up guys. Two different boats with entirely different Yamahas. But I've never won PowerBall.

[DennisG01]

I'm thinking... either you're pulling our legs, or someone is pulling yours!

[ausnoelm]

Did you crank the steering wheel?

[pstephens46]

I think the boys over at TheHullTruth have the answer. I’d check there.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I think the boys over at TheHullTruth have the answer. I’d check there.

That, ^^, should be interesting!

[Frankh27]

I know it sounds like a spoof, but it's not. I'm thinking of shooting a video of the problem so y'all can see it happen. I'm finding it hard to believe though that no one else has ever had this happen. I must have all the luck.

[zenoahphobic]

Jokes aside, many problems duplicate themselves.
I would look at all the things that actually are common to both vessel setups.

Your habits, or what you do needs to be examined. For example I had a mate who was obsessive with tidiness and he minimised the tubes and cabling contained in the outboard well, tying everything tightly together. Often he would inadvertently disconnect the fuel line on a sharp turn. He figured that out after the engine stalled seemingly “by itself” with no change in throttle going straight ahead. You see he had a click on fuel line that had excessive tension pulling it out when all the cabling moved, as they do, when you turn. The engine didn’t immediately stall so at first he didn’t relate the disconnect with the turn and assumed the fitting was weak and fell out through vibration.
He eventually replaced that fitting and the fault disappeared for quite awhile and then the disconnection came back. He figured the fitting design was poor so accepted the fact that he needed to replace it now and again. He bought several over a number of years, never thinking that there may have been excessive pull on the fuel line every time he did a full lock (can’t remember which side).
It took someone to point out to him that the way he set it up was the initiation of the problem.
Your problem is not the fuel line, but as suggested, you may have a stretched wire (starter ) in the loom that has fractured, may just be a connection, that will now only make connection, perhaps when the loom is bent, or even if it is relieved or straightened.
Check how your wires move.

[DennisG01]

I know it sounds like a spoof, but it's not. I'm thinking of shooting a video of the problem so y'all can see it happen. I'm finding it hard to believe though that no one else has ever had this happen. I must have all the luck.

I believe you that it's happening... but with it being so extremely odd I just think it deserves a little levity! If you think about it, someone playing a joke on you actually is more logical than this happening to you on different boats/engines. Let us know how what you find out when bypassing the battery cables.

[HarrisonDawgs]

Had this happen once many years ago on a Mercury. Seems years of tilting motor fully up while on trailer to let water drain had put undue stress on my engine positive cable. Couldn't see if from outside of wire, everything looked perfect. Turns out wire had broken in half inside the insulation. When motor was turned tight in one direction it would jam the wire up enough to get a good solid current flow. I feel like the below freezing air temps before boat launch could have contributed. Stumped me for weeks until one day I noticed a slight wrinkle in the insulation. Sliced the insulation back for a look and confirmed wire broken in half. Jumpers should confirm if that's the case.

[Frankh27]

Gentlemen, I brought the boat (on trailer) back to the house just now. I was anxious to try the jumper cables: I disconnected the positive engine cable from the battery. Then I put the jumper cable on the battery and the other end on the positive & negative posts on the starter. Turned the ignition key .... nothing. Starter made no clicking of any sort. I did note that the electric choke works even when the starter doesn't respond. Does anyone know how to bypass the throttle neutral lock out circuit. I'm starting to wonder if that wiring is the culprit for this anomaly. What other wiring is in that bundle of wires that enters the engine cowl?? I was soooo hopeful that the jumper cable would "fix" this problem. It's starting to drive me bananas. Thanks again for the help and support!!

[99yam40]

I am not sure if the choke gets 12 v+ power from the key switch or not on that rig.
just trying to make sure you have power to the switch and back out of it.

does the T&T work when the starter does not?

the neutral start switch should be in the con*****er, and I am not sure how turning the wheel would affect that switch

a meter and a wiring diagram would help you chase down where power is being lost

[Frankh27]

Yes, power trim always works as does the electric choke. As for the neutral lock-out, i was thinking maybe the wiring for it ran back to the engine and might be in the bundle that goes into the cowling.

I went back out after dinner, borrowed my neighbor's nice new jumper cables and tried bypassing the engine cables again. Same result, no response from the starter using the ignition switch. I touched the positive jumper cable lead to the starter positive post and the starter spun right up.

I'm getting to the point where I've been before when chasing a ghost-problem ... start replacing parts. Key switch, con*****er, starter solenoid, wiring harness and on and on (

[99yam40]

a volt meter will tell you if there is 12 v + to the different places or coming out of them with out replacing them

[DennisG01]

Sometimes battery cables have another small gauge wire attached that could be needed for starting an engine. Just for giggles, leave the existing + & - battery attached to the battery and try using the jumper cables again. You're not going to hurt anything by trying. It might be all for not, but it's worthwhile to try.

Don't get discouraged - whether this jumper cable trick fixes it or not, you are making progress. You are either going to find the problem or eliminate a variable (which was a very logical possible culprit). Either way, you're getting closer to figuring it out.

[Frankh27]

Thank you for the added suggestion. I spent 4 hours this afternoon chasing this problem. Unseated every wire I could find and snipped a bunch of zip-ties hoping to find the "culprit" wire. Nothing changed the situation. I just went back out and ran the battery jumper test again per your suggestion of leaving the existing battery cables attached. No luck, no change. I actually shot a video today of the problem but wasn't able to get it uploaded to this forum. I learned one additional thing today ... when the steering wheel is spun far right it literally has to be to the steering stop-point or the starter will not engage. When the steering cable makes a "thunk" at the end of the travel, the motor will start. Otherwise, no life in the starter.