Starters, Solenoids and Clicking

[garethcayman]

Something else broke this week. Mostly my fault - boat won't start, I drained the batteries and I assume fried the starter/solenoid as there is a funky electrical smell whenever I try start the boat and it just clicks now, I thought the smell was the batteries but no, replaced the old battery and the boat still doesnt start.

I'm faced with a similar situation where I'm wondering where the fault could be and there seem to be a hundred different permutations for replacing starters, solenoids, slave solenoids, relays and throw in different model engines to the mix - its a quagmire.

For a 2008 year 496 Mag does anyone know where the starter is actually located?

Is it possible to start the engine by connecting the terminals on the starter? I've seen this done on a few videos and ideally I'd like to move the boat back to its dock.

Is it possible to just replace the solenoid or do you have to replace the whole starter? Is it possible to identify the root cause or should I just call the mechanic.

I went down to the dealer and a new starter is not to bad, but the only solenoid they had was for the trim. Doesn't appear to be a separate part.

Anyone got any pictures or schematics on this?

[Daniel]

Starter has limitations because of heat produced during use. I never crank more than 5 seconds then off for 2 minutes. Starter is located on starboard rear of engine.

[garethcayman]

thanks a new starter sorted it. all those 'battery' issues disappeared immediately. Starter hadn't ever been replaced so definitely time.