Evinrude E-Tec.....Riddle me this?

Was going to go fishing today, but sadly motor would not start (crank) in any position. So electrical transient remains elusive and untraceable (by me). Got it booked into dealers ( in Saanich) for mid-October, which is first date available. Gonna miss the rest of the season including the coho unless I can find anybody locally who knows how to track down a weird electrical problem like this. (The ignition comes on and all the gauges fire up; the starter motor was brand new in February).
 
I like Hoochiebobs thought.

As another thought, can you measure voltage at the battery? With engine running in up position on water muffs do you get 13V or whatever charging system puts out and then much less voltage in down position? I think that would indicate a short in main battery cable only in down position...

I have tried fiddling with the binnacle throttle, putting it into gear and taking out, "refinding" neutral etc. No dice.

Any yes, when it did start the voltage was just fine and showed 14V charging on the I-command voltage gauge. Now will not crank at all (see above) so electrical problem has got worse....
 
Check connection to starter. May be loose or something screwy with it. When the motor is lifting maybe the connection to the starter or a ground gets connected when the motor is lifted.

Check voltage going to starter in all motor positions and check connections to starter.

Keep in mind grounds are just as important as power wires for completing a circuit. Perhaps a ground somewhere is only getting connected when the motor is lifted up.
 
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Also how bout oil level sensor? If the motor is too low on oil maybe those motors have a lock out sensor that won't allow the motor to turn over? And when the motor is lifted maybe the oil moves to show more oil and allows the motor to start?
 
Check connection to starter. May be loose or something screwy with it. When the motor is lifting maybe the connection to the starter or a ground gets connected when the motor is lifted.

Check voltage going to starter in all motor positions and check connections to starter.

Keep in mind grounds are just as important as power wires for completing a circuit. Perhaps a ground somewhere is only getting connected when the motor is lifted up.
Thanks CD. I have poked around the harness both outside and just inside the engine compartment and was unable to find any obvious bad/loose connection.
I'll try putting a voltmeter on the starter connection to see if anything is getting there. Power is getting to the motor because I can hear the fuel pump going and the EMM module must be on because all the gauges fire up.

I don't think it is oil. That is in a separate reservoir I can check visually and that is all good. Oil level sensor has not worked in along time, so don't think that is the issue now.
 
Thx Civano. Lots of good information in this post, and several similarities to my symptoms. I'll give this to the dealer when I take it in. They only took over the Evinrude dealership 18 months ago and so they will not be totally experienced with the complexity of this engine, the sensors, and the EMM module interface to the I-Command gauges.
 
Englishman,

You can run jumpers directly off your battery to starter and block to see if it will fire. That will rule out one complete circuit if it does work. Just run positive to starter and neg to somewhere on the block, I generally use the lifting eye. If it cranks you gotta clean leads all the way back to your battery. I was just skimming this thread and really feel your pain at being out for the season. If you need a hand let me know.

Darin
 
Check the 10A fuse underneath the hood - port side forward on the top under the plastic covering the flywheel.
 
Englishman,

You can run jumpers directly off your battery to starter and block to see if it will fire. That will rule out one complete circuit if it does work. Just run positive to starter and neg to somewhere on the block, I generally use the lifting eye. If it cranks you gotta clean leads all the way back to your battery. I was just skimming this thread and really feel your pain at being out for the season. If you need a hand let me know.

Darin
Thx Darin,

Tinkered about with the engine with lots of help from Gon Fishin today. Starts fine when by-passing the solenoid, kind of like you describe. Checked power to the solenoid and it is there, as is power to the sensor. Fault must be somewhere between key switch and the solenoid, but beyond my capabilities tracking that one down. Phoned South Island Marine in Saanich again and they said bring it in and they will "get to it when they can". So........at least it is off my lot now and I won't be staring at it any more as the last of the season fritters away.....:(;)
 
Check the 10A fuse underneath the hood - port side forward on the top under the plastic covering the flywheel.
Checked that already AA and all is well. As one would expect given the very curious behaviour that started all this (see first post).
 
Well, finally got my boat back from the service dealer. Been nearly three weeks off the water, but they have been very busy up there apparently.

Turned out it was indeed a broken wire inside the wiring harness assembly, as several folks on here suggested. Was not in an area where it could get pinched or anything and the Service Manager said he had never seen one fail like that.

Anyway, whole harness replaced rather than sketchy wiring patch. That together with a new water pressure sensor, re-routing some of the NEMA wiring, and a full regular service it cost me a pretty penny.

Done in time for the coho on October 1st but I reckon each fish will cost me 5 times the price per lb than in the local supermarket!! LOL:):D
 
Sounds almost exactly like the problem a buddy and myself had with our 90HP ETEC that we had a few years ago....replaced starter and was good but maddening to deal with.
 
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