Ok so I just bought my first mudboat this last weekend. It has dual 45 mags on it. When going to look at it one of the motors would not start, it will crank over with the key (remote steering console) but it does so very slowly. It will not fire off though. The other motor turns over much quicker and fires of immediately. They are both 2012 models. I did some searching on here and so far I have done this:

Switched batteries to make sure it's not a simple fix, it wasn't obviously.

Checked wires attached to starter, had some corrosion but cleaned that off, still nothing changed.

Pulled the right side valve cover when facing the front of the motor, rockers go up and down and valve lash seemed to be at .006.


I need some help guys, I've never had a mud motor and don't really know much about them.


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Make sure there is no fire at plugs. Then I would start with checking wiring. Check wiring on back of ignition switch. Check emergency kill switch. Check oil pressure sensor. Check coil wiring under frt. cowl. Looking for loose,broken or corroded connections. Starter motor turning slow could be a bad ground or corrosion build up in battery cables to starter. Sounds like it is an electrical problem. Resistance meter comes in handy for checking wiring and switches if you know how to use one.

I don't have a clue how to use what but seems I'm gonna learn. Where is the ground strap for the motor located at?


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Ground should be on a motor mount bolt under starter motor.

Just to update for those interested, after some extensive troubleshooting of the obvious things, it was a galled connecting rod. Never seen that one before on these....