2005 OX66 200 HP Starting issue

[Checker01]

Need some help guys. I bought this 1979 21' Mako 2 years ago. I've done a lot of restoration to the boat and used it extensively last summer. Had some issues at the end of last year with the batteries staying charged. I found the cables to be in bad condition. Replaced all of the cables to both batteries and to the motor. I went with 2awg replacing the 4gauge wires.
Just finished doing some more cosmetic work to the boat and ready to put in the water but won't start. No power to the gauge. Tilt works. Motor will bump but won't turn over. It tries to turn over and will stop with a click noise. Batteries are fully charged. Full power to the starter.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Tom

[Checker01]

Thanks for the quick reply

I will try it tonight when I have someone to help. I'm really wondering why the gauge won't work. For now, I'm going to pull apart the connections to the gauge and throttle to see if there is any corrosion.

[99yam40]

Is the motor or lower unit locked up?
Try turning it by hand with a wrench maybe.

if you cannot turn it by hand drop lower unit to rule that out and try again.

If it still will not turn pull the plugs to see if there is something inside cylinder

or pull the plugs 1st , either way rule out some parts

[Checker01]

Good idea. Just put it in gear and it does turn over by hand.

[99yam40]

well sounds like you still have some wire/cable issues.
volt meter is your friend now

[pstephens46]

He may have 12 with key on, but may not have all the amps needed to crank. Correct?

[Checker01]

Starter engages and disengages. I connected the starter cable direct to the battery and same result.

I need to put another charge on the battery right now. Too many attempts. Help coming to test voltage in a few hours.

Thank you very much guys!

[Checker01]

It may take overnight to get the full charge. I just have a 1.5 amp charger. I just found a bad connection to the gauge. It wasn't fully connected. We'll see if that's the issue or if it's not getting full juice to the starter when I test that.

[pstephens46]

Decent car battery will start it. Use the battery from the wife's car.

[dray0151]

Decent car battery will start it. Use the battery from the wife's car.

Be careful some autos before you disconnect the battery you have to be able to read out things like anti theft codes, if you don't have the equipment to do that you will lock out the vehicle

[pstephens46]

Wife can figure it out.

Better yet, use the ex-wife's battery.

[Checker01]

My girlfriend probably could figure it out. She had to pull a contractor out her backyard with her son's wench on his jeep today. No idea why he was went so far into her back yard with his truck and trailer. Guessing he realized he made a mistake trying to turn around the trailer and only got worse in the wet soil from all of the rain we've had. She figured out the wench from a youtube video.
Will test tomorrow on a full charge.
Thanks again. You are all awesome.

[Checker01]

Update: It cranks

A thought occurred to me last night and did some research about electrical solder this morning. Last fall when I replaced all of the cables I used electrical solder but I remember running out and used some plumbing solder for some of the connections. Apparently, this is not good. Plumbing solder has acid flux which can cause corrosion and weaken the connection. That was it. Just replaced the lugs to the starter battery and it fires up. Lesson learned. Now I have to replace the rest since I don't remember which ones I used plumbing solder.

[99yam40]

Hopefully you crimped the lugs onto the cable 1st and then used solder.
heat from current flow can melt the solder so a good crimp to carry the load is much better without depending of the solder to carry the current

[Checker01]

I did not crimp before solder. That is great to know and makes a lot of sense. I need to get more lugs tomorrow so while I'm replacing them, I will crimp first. Thank you very much for the advice. This forum is a great resource. I just realized it is supported by the supplier I have been buying parts from.