Starting it (please help before I scuttle the damned thing...)

[Wiltshire Moonraker]

Lets wait for the readings before we confuse the issue. The symptoms SOUND like a +ve supply failure either in cabling or solenoid contacts, let's wait for the on load voltage reading and we can see which.

Absolutely

[Tony Brooks]

Absolutely

 

 

Agreed, but I have known the wrong pinion to be fitted and that can cause it to jamb in mesh and only spin slowly. However once we get into that sort of thing a boater has no chance without more info than is readily available. I have also known the starter bushes to be fitted dry and at the pinion end that can cause slow rotation but before we get into this sort of exotic stuff we need the voltage readings as requested. I recently had a reader who had been sold the wrong starter on a 1.5, again with jambing in mesh and very low cranking speed.