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Starter Spinning Freely

mschwenz

Contributing Member
"Im knocking off problems one

"Im knocking off problems one by one and the other day the starter stopped engaging and started spinning freely,(like a high pitch whine). To me it seems as if the pinion isnt popping out to mesh the fly wheel (don't know exact terminology) The starter is fairly new too.
So I put it on the work bench attatched the positive end of a battery to the terminal where the small yellow with a red striped wire usually connects too (test was in a shop book) and the pinion DID pop out. So i replaced a slightly corroded connection while I was at it because it snapped while I was uninstalling it and put it back in for a try and it cranked the engine for about 2 seconds and spun again and spins freely now with that same whiny winding noise???

Any ideas guys"
 
im no genious but i would make

im no genious but i would make sure your battery in your boat has enough juice by putting jumper cables to it and if it still does it i would just replace the starter now in your yard rather than later in the middle of the lake.
 
in my opinion u stated that th

in my opinion u stated that the starter solenoid works on the bench but not in the boat so i would first check the voltage on the battery like dan suggested but id also clean all connectoins on the slave solenoid
 
I cant get it to spin on the b

I cant get it to spin on the bench idk how to do that i can just get it to pop out the pinion
 
i think what steve wanted you

i think what steve wanted you to do is clean the connections on the solenoid it should be the little oval box on the side of the starter
 
I cleaned evrything checked al

I cleaned evrything checked all connections and still didnt work. when i bench test it the starter seems to work. I installed it on the boat then jumped everything and went straight to the connections on the solenoid. When i gave it power it nudged the flywheel a bit but proceeded to spin. It sounds like the gears are meshing and its just the starter spinning freely inside. I just went ahead and ordered a new starter anyway. Thanks for the help again guys
 
"Mike ...

Next time you hav


"Mike ...

Next time you have that starter out, take a look at the teeth on the flywheel. If they are worn or missing the starter will spin freely without turning the engine over, (there is nothing for the starter teeth to grab). Put a socket/ratchet on the front crank bolt of the motor and turn it over by hand slowly. Look at all to teeth on the ring gear. Put a chaulk mark on the ring gear so you know when you've gone all the way around. If you have bad sections, it may require replacing the flywheel (its actually called a flexplate).

You may have a bad starter pinion (drive), and it may be slipping on the armature of the starter while trying to turn the motor over. If this is the case, the new starter will solve this.

Let us know what you find.

Wrench"
 
"If your handy with a torch or

"If your handy with a torch or know someone that does you can get a new ring gear through an autopart store, <$50 vs $250-$500 for a flywheel, I did one on a Ford 302 in a Mastercraft boat with a "PCM" Pleasure craft Marine package.

Heat up the ring gear and tap it off (taps off easily) then heat up the replacement, drop it on making sure its Flush, and your done."
 
Ive wanted to turn the engine

Ive wanted to turn the engine manualy before but couldnt figure out a way to do it there is no bolt to turn (its a 01 3.0L) and it would be hard to turn with the mount in its way too
 
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