HOW TO START THE ENGINE WITHOUT KEYS

Sometimes, it might be impossible to start the engine in the traditional way, that is by using the starting board.

The reasons can be different: a breakdown , a disconnected wire or, in the case of older boats, a broken or lost key (or a key simply forgotten at home)

In these cases, the best decision is to solve the problem or to try to recover the key. But if we have to start the engine anyway, a simple solution is possible.

The video below shows how to do it. We filmed it when we tested Dufour 412 in Porto Lotti, guests of Settemari. The engine of the video is a Volvo Penta D2 55 but the method is always the same on all engines.

As you can see, it is sufficent to find the starter motor. It is not always in the same position but you can recognize it easily because it has two electric cables connected to the two poles, the negative one and the positive one. In this case, you needn’t to recognize the sign. There are only two cables and we only need to produce a short circuit. In order to do it, we need something metal (in our case a screwdriver) to touch the two terminals. The short circuit and the consequent engine starting are ensured.