Jeff,

Sheer will is a powerful force. :D

It helps to have a REALLY good welder sorta on retainer.

Thanks. Brad.

Impressive

Looks like Spray Transfer on the flange weld bead.

We get a good tri mox gas up here called Arkal 14. Great all purpose gas for stianless and steel. Spray transfer gives great penetrarion and amazing beads. Bette then the often poor pen stacked dimes.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...61eded894a.jpg
Are you going to pikish them up? Or test them out, then do fine details next winter?

Tartilla,

That’s the OEM elbows, and yes…. My welder said it was spray transfer. Never heard of it myself. That’s why I leave all the welding intricacies to him.

No. My plan is to have them powder coated black as soon as we get it running right. It might wait until this coming winter, though.

Thanks. Brad.

Guys,

I wanted to crank the engine over, so I hooked up a battery, no ECM, and hit the key. I got a click from (I’m guessing) the slave relay, but no starter. I’ve confirmed continuity between the battery cable and the starter lug, through the selector switch, and I’ve confirmed continuity between the ground cable at the battery and the block and ground wire on the starter. So it has to be solenoid related. I was alone in the shop today, so I couldn’t confirm what exactly I was hearing.

So far today, the builder has not responded to texts. Not really worried on that front, as he has a full time job, but I am wondering/concerned about this issue. So what should I be looking for?

Thanks. Brad.

Does the battery have at least 12 volts? Clicking would be the relay trying to go but either sticking, or not enough voltage. Or starter itself not engaging/sticking and just clicking

Ryan,

It SHOULD be pretty well charged. I just took it off the tender three days ago (Saturday). I will confirm in the morning. The tender showed full charge at the time.

There is a slave relay as well as the starter solenoid, correct? I probably need to verify positive connection between the relay and the starter solenoid. Tough to do by myself, though.

Thanks. Brad.

You're not catching many breaks here...lol.

Can you setup a continuity test on the pass through connections on the solenoid? Use a jumper to to apply 12v to the trigger contact of the solenoid.

Or you can use a test light with the aligator clip on the solenoid output terminal, with the point on a ground. When you turn the key to start...the light should light up.

Tartilla,

I had the thought to make a hot jump from the battery to the solenoid lug on the starter, just to confirm the starter and solenoid are still in good working order. I do have a remote starter switch somewhere. Gonna be pretty peeved if that is bad.

My biggest fear here is that the removal of the 555 harness, with all the externalities that were laced into it, is gonna be cause issues. I am assuming the builder wired the new cannon socket to the engine such that nothing will be amiss here. But I did have to figure out the trim limit switch, and I wonder if things like the neutral lockout might be interfering. Would you even hear a click if that were the case?

I’ll hopefully have some help at the shop tomorrow, so we can start rooting this one out.

Still haven’t heard from the builder. Getting a little concerned on that front. He’s not one to ghost me. I hope something else isn’t going on.

Thanks. Brad.

Guys,

Heard from the builder. We're all good there. He asked the same questions. I got to the shop this morning, enlisting the help of my son, and got to probing....

The first thing was to verify battery voltage. I discovered the 29 series Walmart EverStart battery (my newest one) is only showing ~11.8v after only 3-4 days off charge, not connected to anything. Bad battery?

After swapping to the other battery, fresh off the tender, I've got almost 13v to the starter main lug, and I've got the same current to the solenoid lug when we hit the key. But no starter activity. Bad starter? I have no idea how old it is. It very well could be original '02.

Thanks. Brad.

yup,the battery is bad,,start probing,start at the slave solenoid and see if the voltage is on the yell/red wire.you could jump the starter and see if it spins.if you have to hit it w/ a hammer,,its bad.lol

Delete

Sutphen,

Honestly, I thought the older 27 series battery would be the one to go bad first. I've even got a 29 series battery tray waiting for the new battery. Looks like it'll have to keep waiting.

Thanks. Brad.

Do you know what is clicking, is it just the relay, or both the relay and the starter?

Ryan,

Near as I can tell, just the slave relay. I can definitely feel it click. The starter solenoid, not so much.

Thanks. Brad.

well,just jump the slave,see if the starter works.

Sutphen,

I’m getting full switched current to the solenoid lug of the starter. Pretty sure the slave relay is working properly.

Thanks. Brad.

If the starter solenoid is getting power from the relay, then it's likely the culprit.

Tartilla,

Can the solenoid be changed individually from the starter, or does the whole thing gotta go?

Thanks. Brad.

There should be a separate relay not attached to the starter
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...5a249465fb.jpg

Ryan,

Yup. That's the slave relay that feeds power to the solenoid on the starter at "key:start", correct? It is working properly. I can hear and feel it click and I have switched power to the solenoid lug on the starter when it does.

Thanks. Brad.

Switched power to the small lug on the bottom? Have you tried jumping to 2 larger posts on the top together to see if the starter spins?

Ryan,

No. At the starter. The wire that goes from that relay to the solenoid on the starter has 12.8v switched power.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...9f5adaf8c.jpeg


Thanks. Brad

Guys,

Problem solved. Did some digging and found some pics of other people’s problems, along with some advice from a side channel, and….

Relay/solenoid wire was connected to the wrong lug on the starter solenoid. Swapped connection to the other lug and we got starter.

On to the next. It’s almost time to add fuel.

Thanks. Brad.

Guys,

Next challenge...

I've got nothing for gauges. I'm showing no voltage at the 12v lug on any of the gauges. The lights work when I hit the NAV lights switch, and all the switches work (except the horn, which may be the horn itself). Since we ripped out the 555 and harness, is there a 555 triggered relay that provides power to the gauges? Can I just power the gauges off the ignition switch; maybe through a relay?

Thanks. Brad.

Guys,

Nevermind.... :rolleyes:

I'm a dumbazz.... The lanyard had been pulled and I didn't realize it. I've got gauges.

Thanks. Brad.

That's awesome, totally something I would do! Let us know when she fires!!!

SecondWind,

Right…?!? Although I hate to have to own up to missing something so obvious and simple, I do like it when problems find their own solutions.

We are so close. Still waiting on the builder to configure the audible alarm and get it wired into the harness. We also still need to confirm alignment on the engine. Now that I have a starter and can crank the engine over, I can observe the runout in the coupler. Once the drive is on, as far as I see it, it’s fuel time.

Thanks. Brad.

I'm glad you figured it out,was about to call you a dumb azz.lol for being on the wrong post.now,if you had points......:)

Been there...done that

Padraig

Sutphen,

Not to throw him under the bus, but that was the builder that did that. He did all the engine wiring. All good, though. He’s allowed ONE mistake. :p

Thanks. Brad.

Wow, been a week or so since I've been here... Looks like lots of progress being made.. Coincidentally, I've been in a similar "boat" as you.. I've been gearing up to start up my 496 and my starter isn't working lol..
Unfortunately, I've traced mine back to a dead on arrival OEM Merc starter I bought back in october... Now the vendor says I have to go thru Mercs warranty process because I'm past the 30 day return period, and every local merc vendor is ghosting me... :mad:

Guys,

Not a moment too soon. The day has arrived.


Thanks. Brad.

Get that thang in da water !!!

Jeff,

Trust me. I’m chomping at the bit. But it’s still running REALLY rich. I won’t idle below 1000RPM, and about 15% throttle. Gotta get it idling reliably on the trailer. Then it’s off to the lake for some final tuning.

Thanks. Brad.

Congrats
Gonna sound good when you finish sorting it out.

to be honest it sounds lazy, what is the timing and is it advancing properly? almost sounds like it is still in base timing mode. it sounds good just lazy but that could be the way it comes across in the video

Comped,

It is, in fact, essentially a “base tune” that the builder wrote, anticipating the requirements of the build, but specifically to run rich initially. And it is RICH…. Like I said, I won’t hardly idle at all. That’s probably why it is sluggish on those throttle stabs. That and I’m not really stabbing at it that much. I’m gonna drag it up to the dealership and he is gonna connect the laptop and get to work.

Thanks. Brad.

Be careful not to wash it down if you think its that rich.
Also, revving like that leads to reversion. When you free rev, vaccum goes to the moon, when you close the throttle plate it gets worse but has nowhere to pull from except the exhaust, leading to reversion issues. You're also just dumping accel enrichment fuel down the intake revving it, making it richer. Get it in the water and get a load on it to seat the rings. The guys free revving at the dock are usually part of the clown show anyway. lol.
Sounds lumpy. Have fun with it!

Johnny,

Understood. But I think we've done a lot to reduce the possibility for reversion. Scroll up and check out the exhaust mods we made. Dry almost to the tips. It's the stock 496HO cam, too, so not much overlap. Just 1.8 roller rockers to increase lift. Plus, I wasn't stabbing all that hard or dropping back anywhere near zero throttle, else it would likely die.

The revving was for posterity :cool:. I don't make a regular habit of it. Unless, of course, we are going under a particular low bridge at our local overgrown mud puddle. Then I gotta "pay the troll". :D

I don't think it's running THAT rich, just too rich to be happy. The initial tune was an educated stab in the dark, aiming for the rich side to be safe. It didn't flood itself out, drowning the plugs, so it ain't THAT rich. We are hopefully going to be getting together this evening to dial it in a bit, at least to a stable idle on the trailer. Then we are off to a ramp for on-water tuning; hopefully next week.

Thanks. Brad.