The next kohler 5e saga

craigswardmtb

I was on the hook for the 4th and the genny decided to act up. It ran fine for breakfast and we went to fire it up for lunch and no go. It barely turned over and then wouldn't turn over at all. I only get a click about evry 1/2 second but the starter is not engaging. Initially I thought I ingested water. So I checked the oil and it looked clean and was at the normal level. I then pulled the plugs and looked for water and nothing; followed by trying turn the motor over to blow out any possible water but again I only got clicks and no engagement. Plugs were dry and I couldn't see any signs of water. So I think I'm safe on the water side. I then went to electrical and pulled out my manual. I popped the cover off of the control box. The led 2 and 3 lit up when the start button was pressed as they should. I then verified there was 12+ volts to the k20 relay, and I showed power to the top terminal (there are 4).  I also showed power down to the starter solenoid. However I'm not sure if there is power after or how to test that?  Also I cannot seem to find the starter which I was considering jumping the solenoid to see if the starter engaged. Could anyone direct me where that thing is?  So my initial guess is it's the solenoid. Any other thoughts out there on what my next course of action should be?  Those starters are around 400 so I'm hoping it's not that. 

Dream_Inn

I would start at the battery connection.  You may have a bad ground.  Remove both battery terminals, clean them and the wire connections and reinstall.  I've seen this several times on different boats.  Hopefully that is all it is!

Stodge

I have a separate battery switch between the genny ad the starting batteries.  If you have the same you might want to give it a turn or 2 to rule out corrosion in the switch.

raybo3

How does Kohler stay in the marine business??? I have been firing up my Genny at the dock once a week and running it under a heavy load. Took the boat out for the 4th while on the hook, fired up Genny started to run and died. It gave me the finger and said "I am not running". Man I wish I had a Westerbeke (spelling..lol).......

Handymans342

I have Kohler Diesel. Never a problem  hahahahahahhahahaha

craigswardmtb

Voltage is pretty consistent from the battery all the way to the solenoid. So I don't think it's the switch. The ground on the genny is pretty rusted so I'll clean that up a bit. I just picked up a new solenoid so I'll know in an hour if that was the problem. 

Dream_Inn

I've seen consistent voltage as well all the way to the genny, but when you put it under load, it's that terminal on the battery that needed cleaning that causes the problem.  I'm just saying that I have seen it a couple times, where all looks fine, but removing at the battery, cleaning battery and mating connector, put it back and all is good.  Worth a shot.

craigswardmtb

Well it wasn't the solenoid....

Black_Diamond

Is your gen powered from its own battery or your engine/house batteries?  You can call the guys at www.partsfortechs.com too for some help.

craigswardmtb

It's powered from its own battery. I just realized that today. I swapped the battery for one that is registering 13.4 volts versus the 12.5 battery that was on there and no change. I cleaned the terminals as well. Still nothing. I think I'll try the guys at partsfortechs. 

craigswardmtb

So the universal ground on the genny is pretty rusted. I have cleaned it up as best I can but it's still in rough shape. When I hit the start button the volts drop from 12.5 to 7.3ish. That from both the big positive lug on the solenoid to ground, and the smaller positive lug to ground which I believe feeds the starter. The solenoid has 4 lugs/screws (2 big and 2 little). The two big are occupied with power and the starter ground cables. Only the one little positive has cables too it which I think go to the starter. 
Is this voltage drop normal when the starter is pressed?

craigswardmtb

Well turns out it's not normal for the voltage drop when the start button is pressed. So this led me to either a bad ground or a loose wire coming off the panel. I cleaned up the rusty ground as best I could with no change. I then began to mess with some of the wires in the control box. My thought was there might be a bad connection with one of the power leads that runs from the starter relay into the control box. Sure enough there was. Not sure what wire it was but it started working after pushing some of the wires into their connectors. I'll try to track down what wire it was tomorrow and repin it into the connector. 

raybo3

Good find hope all is fixed now

Dream_Inn

Well, hopefully you can trace the wire that was the cause.  Try to take a picture here to post to help the next person out.   Good find!