Genset is slow to crank

[Octopus]

Originally Posted by rwells36

Did you replace the starter before it failed?

Unfortunately not. The starter failed at the most inconvenient time. It was approaching midnight waiting for the tide to refloat us after scrubbing and antifouling the hulls 'between the tides'. My boat is a hybrid, so we rely on the genset for propulsion. Fortunately there was enough power in the batteries to get us onto a mooring.

Originally Posted by rwells36

How would I diagnose a bad starter?

I don't know how you can diagnose a failing starter. I tried most other possibities and still refused to believe it would be a 7yo starter.

The starter motor bolts were a complete pain to remove. The bottom bolt was impossible to get any kind of socket or wrench/spanner squarely on it (Who designs these things?). At one point I thought that I would have to lift out the genset to get proper access to the bolt. In the end I bought a top quality extra-long-handled ring spanner, then ground off as much as I dared to help it sit as best it could (which still wasn't very good). The long handle just gave me the leverage I needed to shift it without rounding the bolt.

I bought a replacement on eBay for a reasonable price (150).Good luck with yours.