Way back in 2013, when I bought my right proper Cummins 6CTA engines, I drove up to Long Island, NY, to check them out. The engines were bolted to pallets, and the shop selling them had rigged up battery connections and a raw water source so they could fire them up and demonstrate that they operated properly. I bought them, had them trucked to Deale, MD, and craned them into the engine room through the salon roof hatch and proceeded to make them more and more functional over time.
One thing I never touched were the starter bolts.
That said, I was really frustrated that the starboard engine died and wouldn’t restart on 2023’s Splash Day (sorta). I found no problems with the engine when I went through the intake, exhaust, and fuel system trying to find potential mechanical issues that could cause the engine to die and refuse to restart. When I found nothing wrong with the mechanicals, I decided to go through the engine electrical system from the key switch at the helm to the fuel solenoids and starter to see if I could find a fault.
Brand new Cole Hersee key switch checks out
All connections were tight, and the switch is supplied with 13vdc. The key switch wasn’t the problem.
Next, I hot-wired the fuel solenoids
The Fuel ON and Fuel Hold solenoids both worked fine. I left the Hold solenoid engaged for two minutes after manually moving the fuel lever to the ON position. This simulated having ignition on with the engine running. The Hold solenoid remained engaged the whole time, so the engine would have kept running if I had actually started it.
All of the engine cable and wire connections were tight
This was starting to get frustrating. I was not looking forward to pulling the starter and having it tested.
That’s when I noticed something strange…
That starter bolt didn’t look right…
It almost looked like it wasn’t snugged up to the starter base. There’s a tiny gap. So I reached in with a finger and thumb and it turned!
I removed the bolt and cleaned the underside of the head to bare metal. Then I reinstalled it, and torqued it to 57 lb-ft.
What I suspect happened is that the mechanic on Long Island loosed that bolt and used it as the battery ground, but forgot to tighten it after removing the negative cable. I checked all of the other starter bolts on both engines and found them tight. That one loose bolt was somehow enough to provide insufficient ground for the starter to work consistently.
Since the Fuel Hold solenoid worked as it should, I still have no explanation for why the engine shut down. But as you’ll see in this video, the starboard engine is back in business! One funny thing in the video is that I had removed the impeller and aftercooler zinc, so when the engine lights off, some raw water and diesel exhaust come shooting out of the cooler and raw water pump. When I went into the ER after the test run, I was stumped as to why it stunk like exhaust. Now I know! lol
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Splash Day Redux
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Hi Chris,
How did you embed a Rumble video? I’d like to do the same thing.
Hi. IIRC, I just copied and pasted the video URL to wordpress. Nothing fancy. Don’t use the embed code.
Cheers,
Q
Called it!!
😉
HA! Did you call “finger-tight starter bolt”? 😉
I absolutely didn’t see that coming, and kept feeling more and more dread as possible sources of the fault got fewer and fewer. I’m so relieved it was something simple.
Q
LOL no I couldn’t get that specific from here; but just so I can claim my accolades, I said “if something’s fused or grounding in the starter it would pull a lot of current and result in the lights dimming.”
;o
I regret to inform you that your accreditation as Marine Remote Diagnostician Extraordinaire has been rescinded because of new data received demonstrating that the problem was a defective (but still usable) starter switch, not the starter itself.
Alas, had you stated that “it’s voodoo, man” you would have earned and even now retained the platinum-level Remote Diagnostician Extraordinaire accreditation. 😉
LOL
Ha ha ha – I just read that in your most recent post and thought to myself “well, I hope he doesn’t take the time to go back through old comments and tell me that I’m wrong”….. followed by “perhaps I can claim that the faulty switch constitutes an electrical issue?” But no, it’s a bit of a stretch. Congratulations again!!!
HA! Check mate! LOL
Seriously, though, with voodoo like that going on, if anybody had accurately identified it they’d be a deity-level diagnostician.
That said, I remain suspicious that my boat buddy might actually be demonically possessed…
How else could he have known!?!?!
🙂
Q
Candidly I am in awe of your perseverance and skill set to see this through. I’ve restored a ’78 CC 23 Lancer Overnighter and a ’72 CC XK-22, and those pale in comparison though at the time I thought the blood, sweat and wealth I gave was notable. Pffft. Will send up a prayer that tomorrow is a success. Skal !
Thanks Craig! The encouragement I’ve gotten over the years from kind words like yours is a big part of what kept me going sometimes.
Q
It’s always the nitnoy details…
I could hear you exhale from Long Island! That must have been a real relief…
HA! Indeed it was!
You have one keen eye my friend and it’s a good thing! Dang, the gremlins can be very sneaky. I can sense the joy of getting that sleuthed. Onward to the Big Splash!
Thanks Craig! Maybe tomorrow!