zog02

Took my 89 Formula (223LS with a 7.4L) down to Pensacola Beach this weekend. The boat ran well all weekend. Drove about 30 miles total at cruising speed. Went back to the dock and idled in the channel for about 5 min. Docked the boat, put it on the trailer and cleaned it all up. Went to flush the engine...turned the key and the motor was locked up!!!! I have no idea what is going on. It sounds like the starter motor is working right but the engine is locked up. I checked the engine oil and it all looks good. Drained the drive oil and it looks perfect. (I had the main bearing go out in the drive 3 months ago...thought maybe it happened again) I am totally baffled as to what is going on. No strange noises / misses all day until I put it on the trailer. I can watch the belts on the motor move about 1/2 an inch each time my wife turns the key to try to start it. I cannot describe the noise the engine is making when trying to start. Its not a grinding or clicking noise but something in between. I have no idea where to start in diagnosing this problem. Maybe a bad starter motor / transmission problem / engine seizure???? Any feedback would be awesome. Thanks guys!!!

halffast_2003

pull the plugs..sounds like water in the cylinders

maxum

either water injestion when u pulled the boat out of the water do to broken flapper valves or u have leaking riser gaskets

garysol1

something as simple as a weak battery or bad connection at the battery or solenoid

zog02

UPDATE!!! I just pulled the plugs. They all look good. No water. When I turned the engine over with the plugs out the engine actually turned over a couple times then went back to clicking. It sounds like the starter is having to work very hard to turn the engine over. I guess there is a possibility of a bad connection or something electrical. Maybe a bad connection or bad starter. I put the battery switch on both so it should not be a bad connection. I will check the wiring more tomorrow when I start working on it again. I really don't think it hydrolocked because no water came out of the cylinders. I am really confused now. Thanks for the advice so far.

garysol1

if you want rule out a engine locking up, keep the spark plugs out, Get a socket that will fit on the end of the crank and see how smoothly you can turn the engine over with a ratchet. I still bet its electrical

Panic Button

Had the same problem with my other boat, thought the motor was locked because I didn't winterize it. The battery had a dead cell. It would read 13v but as soon as a load was put on it, it would drop to 7v.

Liberator21

If the boat was running fine a few minutes before, don't assume the worst. Do the easy things first. Check all battery and starter connections, then check the starter. It's not uncommon for them to just go bad. It's happened to me. Do what Garysol1 said, and turn the engine over by hand. I've been playing with cars and boats a long time, and have made the mistake of assuming the worst when more often than not, it turned out to be something minor (usually finding the real problem after throwing a lot of money at it). I'm sure you'll find it's something relatively minor.

cuda

Check the ground wire.

zog02

I hate this damn boat!!! I went out to work on is this morning. I had the plugs out, turned the key and it turned over about twice then started clicking. I put all the plugs back in. I pulled the batteries out took them to an auto parts store and had them checked. One was bad and one was good. Replaced the bad one, charged them both then put them back in. I cleaned up all the wires, terminals and other stuff. I tried it again and same clicking / grinding noise. I started working on the starter and something shorted out the whole boat. Not one electrical thing works. Is there a main fuse or something? I know I had the batteries off when I was working on the starter. As I took the wires off of the solenoid the plastic all broke off and the whole positive terminal broke off, wires and all. I bet it the starter/solenoid has been in there for 10 years. Am I going in the right direction thinking it is the starter? Is it possible for it to turn it over a few times then not the next? Any advice would be great, I am not doing so hot this time around.