Help wanted with outboard

[BillB]

Hi all,
My son took his boat away for the weekend. He launched the boat and when he tried to start it the starter motor engaged the flywheel and sluggishly turned the motor over. The problem was that when he turned the key off the starter stayed engaged turning the motor over. He had to disconnect the battery to get it to stop. He cancelled the weekend and took the boat home and noticed the 2 way was on and could have been for a couple of days thus slightly flattening the battery.
As he lives out of town I tried to do a fault find by phone. Naturally everything worked perfectly other than the effect of the flattish battery. With a fully charged battery he has tried jiggling everything but cannot get the fault to repeat itself. To me the fault is either in the ignition switch or the solenoid is sticking. The motor is a 1994 Evindude. I have struck an Evinrude solenoid that wasn't making contact on occasion but none that stuck closed. I can't see how a flat battery could have caused the problem but hopefully someone here has struck a similar problem and has a solution.
Regards,
BillB

[finga]

Sometimes a flattish battery will kinda weld the solenoid terminals but I've only seen it once before.
Your right in the two places and until the problem reappears it's near impossible to find.
Was the starter actually going or didn't the little pinion gear go back down??
That happens when there's some crud on the shaft and it looks like the starters still going.

[Roughasguts]

Might be a good idea to lube that, little starter motor pinion gear.
They snot up eventually on the shaft.

[finga]

Might be a good idea to lube that, little starter motor pinion gear.
They snot up eventually on the shaft.
Check that with the manual.
I was always told to keep it clean and lub free.
Crud sticks to lub.

[Roughasguts]

That's true finga, crud is usually the problem as you point out.
Wash it off with WD 40, light oil never grease. Or better still wait till the WD 40 is dried off and spray with silicone spray.

Just leaves a slippery dry protected surface for a time.

[BM]

When cranking with a weak battery it is not uncommon for the pinion to remain engaged in the flywheel. To remedy this turn the flywheel anticlockwise to disengage the pinion. Also check that the movement of the pinion is free on the shaft. If not, CRC, Penetrene or WD40 is suitable for use to free the pinions movement on the shaft.

Recharge the battery and try again.

Cheers

[BillB]

Sometimes a flattish battery will kinda weld the solenoid terminals but I've only seen it once before.
Your right in the two places and until the problem reappears it's near impossible to find.
Was the starter actually going or didn't the little pinion gear go back down??
That happens when there's some crud on the shaft and it looks like the starters still going.

Finga,
The pinion was still engaged and the starter motor was still chuggin over. I think the welded solenoid contacts is the most likely cause, all I can suggest that he keeps an eye on it until it re-appears again.
Cheers,
BillB