New ’83 2001 - Questions

Okay guys I got it working. While vacuuming out the carpet last night I must have knocked a wire loose that connects the fuse to the ignition switch. I reconnected it, and she fired right up.

There is a world of difference in how the starter sounds now with the new one. no more slow wirring, just a fast start like it should be.

Next problem:

For some reason the tach acts funny. When I first start it up it sits at about 8K rpm and doesn't change. After a while I think it starts to work fine. Any ideas?

Thanks and you guys have been great help.

Obvious..but yes. The blower was working, and from my understanding the blower does not go through the breaker

I got the starter in this morning. I went to install it at lunch with little success. Is there anything your supposed to do when installing a new starter.

Symptoms:
1) Turn key and nothing happens(in neutral), no clicks nothing.
2) Voltage meter does nothing when I turn the key on. No lights on the switches.
3) The blower does work.

It seems to me like maybe the breaker switch is tripped. I tried to reset it but it didn't move. I am going to retrace all power wiring to make sure it is all hooked up correctly. I was hoping to have a good outcome at lunch... oh well I guess I will have to wait until tonight to get it going.

Just thought of a question I forgot to ask earlier.

Is there supposed to be some sort of gasket between the bellhousing and the starter? It looks like if the water in the bilge area got to high then it would seep into the housing without a gasket to seal.

I checked my battery and it is a 950amp, and 700CCA battery. I just took to wally world and they checked it on their tester, and said it was good, no bad cells, 954CA.

So I have a new starter on the way, and a new starter to relay cable ready to go. Hopefully, the starting will be top notch.

The only thing I have not replaced now is the solenoid. Location?

I was able to give the guy at napa the original PN for the starter from PCM: RA122002. They ordered that exact one. They have a marine book that they order marine starters from. It should look and operate original....hopefully.

The battery, which was supposed to be new, is a Wal-mart brand, not sure what cranking amps. IT might be worth me taking it to them to do a check, it is supposed to have a 3year warranty. I am suspecting the fact that the previous owner replaced the battery every year can be attributed the the dragging starter pulling it down.


Not sure if the carb has ever been rebuilt. I will open up the secondary diaphram and check the springs. We used to change those out on my buddy's camaro a while back to make it open up faster. But as an earlier poster noted, the only way I can tell would be in the water under full throttle. That will be fun to do with the hatch open.

Since the hesitation is mid-way thru your exceleration, I'm thinking you either have a 2.5 power valve instead of 6.5 (common mistake when rebuilding), or, you have a problem with your secondaries opening - as you suggested. The secondary diaphram and various springs can be purchased seperately from the rebuild kit. But then again, you might want to do a full rebuild if you don't know much about the carb's history - I would.

I just put in an order at NAPA for a new starter. $158+tax. Not too bad, plus I am supporting the local economy, and know that they will support it. It should be in on Wednesday, and hopefully, will be the cure to my slow starting woes.

One other thing that Skidim told me to check was the timing. They said that sometimes people mis-time the clip on prestolite distributors to 10deg BTDC rather than the 6deg required for this one. Do I need a timing gun to check this or is it indexed?

In the meantime, I'm heading to Wally World to pick up a new starter to relay cable. The one coming from the relay to the battery looks pretty good a not all green like the starter one.

I was able to find the exact model alternator that skidim sells:

Arco PN: 70101 from boatfix.com for $134. You can buy directly from Arco for $159, and from Skidim for $189.

Bob, how long did it take the starter shop to rebuild your starter. Did they have to order parts, etc?

I am going to pull the little cover on the top to see if there are some wires loose causing the shooting sparks.

See the blank spot on the metal plate just below and to the left of the ballast resistor (white) that is where your external regulator was mounted (if it ever had one). Just like Jameski said, the starter looks original and you should have yours rebuilt or purchase a new MARINE starter (does Napa or Hi-Lo sell marine starters?). If you get your starter rebuilt, make sure they pay attention to the original rotation and do not put it back together so it turns your engine the wrong direction.

As far as your guages jumping, the first thing to check is grounding. The guages probably share a common ground. So if the common ground is weak, then all the gauges react together when pulling amps.

13.3V at the battery is on the low side of OK. Again, check your grounds.

I went and checked with NAPA and Hi-Lo. Cost for a remanufactured direct replacement just like the original is anywhere from $200-$250. I guess I will try SKidim.

Anyone know the exact PN for a '83 Ski with a 351 right-hand rotation engine is. There were a couple in their parts book and was only able to narrow it down to two. The tag on the old one is gone.

1) I don't see a regulator. The white block is your ballast resistor. That's great news about the loose belt being the problem. It sounds like your charging system is in good working order. As long as your battery is holding its charge, that problem is behind you.

2) Yes, that starter looks original to me. Yes, you need to replace (or rebuild) a starter shooting sparks. Are you sure the sparks were coming from the starter? If your cable connection is loose/corroded, you will get sparks from the connection.

3) Have you checked the impeller in your raw water pump?

4) My guages "jump" momentarily when I turn on my blower or my spotlight, or my shower pump; then the guages go immediately back to normal. If the guages stay screwed up, then there is definitely a problem and I would recommend getting behind the dash and looking for it.

5) The secondaries are vacuum-actuated, so they won't open when the engine is not running, nor will they open when revving the engine in neutral. The only time they should open is when you put the boat under a significant load and you open the throttle wide open - or close to wide open (like pulling deep-water-starts. The slight hesitation just as you "hit-it" is probably something else (like the ignition timing, or the accelerator pump). Does it hesitate at low RPM just as you come off idle, or does it cut-out after it is at higher RPM?

Okay guys, I decided to continue my thread in the appropriate forum, since most of my problems are engine related.

Old thread:http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1553&PN=1

I charged the battery the other night, and it started firing correctly, however the voltage at the battery was low.

Today I tightened up the alternator pulley belt, and I think that solved my low voltage issue, as I was able to get ~14.5VDC right at the terminal on the back of the alternator. I checked at the battery and it was only reading 13.3VDC. I think I need to do some rewiring of the power wires as +1V seems to be too much voltage drop for such heavy guage wiring.

Couple quick questions:
1) Look at the attached pics of the electrical cover area, do yall see an external regulator?
2) Now look at the starter, does it look original? I think it is time for a new one, as I noticed tonight that it was shooting sparks out the side when I started the engine. I can't imagine that that is good, considering it would be a great ignition source for the fuel vapors.
3) I was a little worried today when I first started her up. For some reason the pump was not pulling any water. I cut it off and on a couple of times, and it finally started working every time.
4) Electrical: Crazy things happen when I flip the blower switch. All the guages go haywire. The tach maxs out and the fuel guage does the same. I haven't had a chance to look under the dash, but I imagine that there are some crossed wires. Funny thing is that I flipped the switch right before the water pump started working. I just think that is coincidence.
5) Carburetor: At what rpm and/or conditions are the secondary's supposed to open up. I could never seem to get them to open up tonight, and the other day at the lake it seemed to hesitate for a split second when I "hit it" to pull a boarder out of the water.

Overall, it seems to be running pretty good with a charged battery. I let her run for about 30 minutes tonight at idle. Purred great the whole time. I checked the battery voltage before and after running it and it stayed the same or increased slightly attesting to the fact that it is charging.

Thanks to all for the help and reading through all my "novels". I'm sure the questions from me will keep coming as I get farther and farther into making the puppy run like my old one did.

Cheers,
Brandon