Kohler 5eCD won't turn over

T

TimmyD

New Member
Feb 4, 2024
18
Boat Info
2009 Searay Sundancer 270
Engines
350 Mercruiser Bravo III
Bought a used boat. Generator would turn over but wouldn't start. It only has 32 hours on it. Someone had worked on it before and left some things undone. I pulled the generator to work on it. Now it won't turn over. I have a brand new large fully charged battery. It will turn over when the spark plugs are out and the solenoid jumped (hard powered). Can someone tell me if there is a compression release on the motor whether in the valve adjustment or electronically? The motor is a Kawasaki FD501D vtwin motor. Although the engine doesn't turn over it returns an OC (over cranking) error. I have fuel and water supplied. I don't know where to start until it at least begins to crank.
 
Mine did this years ago. It turned out a service guy knocked out one of my fuses. I don't remember much more than that (10 + yrs ago) but check all of the fuses too and make sure they are good. IIRC, there were a bunch on it.
 
spikedaddy99 said:
Mine did this years ago. It turned out a service guy knocked out one of my fuses. I don't remember much more than that (10 + yrs ago) but check all of the fuses too and make sure they are good. IIRC, there were a bunch on it.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I did pull all the fuses and checked for continuity. They are good. I'm now working on testing the starter solenoid. The wires coming into it are reading 10v. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be 12v.
 
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There does not appear to be a compression realease per the parts breakdown, but I’ve never opened one up

If I’m reading it right it spins with the solenoid jumped and no plugs but won’t turn over with the plugs installed. The valve adjustment is fixed via flat tappets. I’d pull the valve covers and make sure the valves are moving to start. I’d have to go back to my old notes but I believe the valve lash was .004/.005

If everything seems to be moving properly, I would follow with a compression test.

It almost sounds to me like you may have a very weak starter that can’t overcome the compression if nothing mechanical is damaged and it spins freely without the plugs. Either that or you may have corrosion or some other high resistance in the connections

When you were trying to run this machine, where is your battery ground attached to the chassis?

Do you have access to a battery load bank tester?
 
I would lean towards the least invasive approach at first. A proper battery load test with a good tester that will pull 150-200 amp's for 10 seconds and the battery doesn't fall below 10 volts. Next would be cleaning all 12V connections, batt and gen. Now test starter draw with the plugs in and than out if you have to. Disable fuel and spark if you can.
 
techmitch said:
I would lean towards the least invasive approach at first. A proper battery load test with a good tester that will pull 150-200 amp's for 10 seconds and the battery doesn't fall below 10 volts. Next would be cleaning all 12V connections, batt and gen. Now test starter draw with the plugs in and than out if you have to. Disable fuel and spark if you can.
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In retrospect, I'm guessing generator demanded starter draw amp ratings are far below the readings I posted,... But the song remains the same.
 
techmitch said:
I would lean towards the least invasive approach at first. A proper battery load test with a good tester that will pull 150-200 amp's for 10 seconds and the battery doesn't fall below 10 volts. Next would be cleaning all 12V connections, batt and gen. Now test starter draw with the plugs in and than out if you have to. Disable fuel and spark if you can.
Click to expand...

One of my cheats for the starter and battery is to attach the load tester at the starter bolt and the positive stud on the starter solenoid after I’ve loaded tested the battery and compare the difference.

A certain other brand may have a bad batch of battery cables floating around out there that causes this exact symptom. My 130 amp digital tester would drop down below five.

Then I would put one cable on the battery post and the other on either the block or starter positive to determine which cable was shot.
 
techmitch said:
I would opt for HD set of jumper cables and at minimal, a set of these:


They're real,... and they are spectacular!

PS I'm guessing you have a bad ass inductive amp probe for your Fluke?
Click to expand...
Edit/interesting OLD doc.
inductiveammaterVER2
 
Stray Current said:
View attachment 158598View attachment 158599There does not appear to be a compression realease per the parts breakdown, but I’ve never opened one up

If I’m reading it right it spins with the solenoid jumped and no plugs but won’t turn over with the plugs installed. The valve adjustment is fixed via flat tappets. I’d pull the valve covers and make sure the valves are moving to start. I’d have to go back to my old notes but I believe the valve lash was .004/.005

If everything seems to be moving properly, I would follow with a compression test.

It almost sounds to me like you may have a very weak starter that can’t overcome the compression if nothing mechanical is damaged and it spins freely without the plugs. Either that or you may have corrosion or some other high resistance in the connections

When you were trying to run this machine, where is your battery ground attached to the chassis?

Do you have access to a battery load bank tester?
Click to expand...
Thank you for responding. You are reading this correctly. I have jumped the solenoid. I also cabled directly to the starter and the ground at the starter, the results are the same. I checked the valves, they are moving and adjusted properly. I opened the starter and cleaned the brushes and armature surfaces. Restarted, didn't seem to change anything. The battery is a 7 year large Duracell glass battery purchase press than a week ago. I tested the battery, 12.7v. i haven't ruled out a weak starter. I pulled the starter solenoid and bench tester it. It responded and transfers the 12v when activated. The battery ground is attached at the base steel tray that the generator is mounted to. There is also 8 inch negative cable in the rear bolted to the tray and goes straight to the starter mount. I'm thinking it might be a weak starter if it's not some check sensors that stops it from completing the start cycle. I have verified there is coolant, oil, gas, raw water. I hear the fuel pump prime before it tries to start, a relay in the electrical box, and the starter solenoid. It then throws an error OC. Which would make me think of a bad starter.
 
techmitch said:
I would lean towards the least invasive approach at first. A proper battery load test with a good tester that will pull 150-200 amp's for 10 seconds and the battery doesn't fall below 10 volts. Next would be cleaning all 12V connections, batt and gen. Now test starter draw with the plugs in and than out if you have to. Disable fuel and spark if you can.
Click to expand...
I haven't tried the load test yet. Thank you for that suggestion and explanation. I'll check that out as well.
 
IMG_3206.jpeg


IMG_3205.jpeg

is this little jumper attached? I’d do the load test straight to the starter pos with the relay jumped and the ground clamped to the block.

It certainly sounds like a bad starter, bad cables or some other reason for voltage drop. My starter never had a very confident sounding crank cycle and I know my connections were solid.
 
techmitch said:
I would opt for HD set of jumper cables and at minimal, a set of these:


They're real,... and they are spectacular!

PS I'm guessing you have a bad ass inductive amp probe for your Fluke?
Click to expand...
I have the 2000 amp flexible amp clamp for my 87v and 376, but I mostly just use my 376 jaw as it does ac and dc up to 400 amps by the tenth with inrush
 
Stray Current said:
View attachment 158600

View attachment 158601
is this little jumper attached? I’d do the load test straight to the starter pos with the relay jumped and the ground clamped to the block.

It certainly sounds like a bad starter, bad cables or some other reason for voltage drop. My starter never had a very confident sounding crank cycle and I know my connections were solid.
Click to expand...
That green ground is in the front in mine. There is also a ground on the back from the tray to the starter. I haven't yet attempted your last suggestion. Here are some other issues i found. One to the village regulator the other the harness to the ADC. The diagrams I have don't seem to match. Are you able to post a picture of the back of your ADC harness as I posted so that I can compare? Thank you
 

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Another clarification, my unit is Kohler 5ecd. I have a fuel injection, no carb. Everything i have found is carbureted.i have spoken to Kohler. They pulled my sn and they showed the same info I've been finding. I've even looked up the engine. I don't know why there is a discrepancy.
 
I’m out running around fixing generators all day, when I have a moment this afternoon, I’ll pull up the schematics and look at your stuff.

Some of the documentation is misleading, because it is a catch all manual that includes the carbureted and injected models. The group of different components is not intuitive.
 
Stray Current said:
I’m out running around fixing generators all day, when I have a moment this afternoon, I’ll pull up the schematics and look at your stuff.

Some of the documentation is misleading, because it is a catch all manual that includes the carbureted and injected models. The group of different components is not intuitive.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
Can you tell me if this 3 wire is normal. Each of the black wires are exposed in the flex tube. And the connectors doesn't seem like something a manufacturer would use. Do i need to reassess the whole electrical system? Lol.
 

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