"Hello. I am new to these mess
"Hello. I am new to these message boards and I have a problem
I have already searched through some messages here trying to find more info on shimming starters for the GM Merc 8 cylinder engines, but i cant really find much on the subject..
.Thus, I wanted to post my problem here.
First, the boat is in storage as of today because its just going to get colder and colder from here on out.. Its a rather moot point to post here granted I can no longer have easy access to the engine compartment, however, I am absolutely perplexed at the behavior of the starter and can use some tips here later on if perhaps there is a rogue warm day to peel the cover back and mess with it some more.
Ultimately, this boat.. a monterey 225 cuddy? I think, is my dads and it has sat fermenting under a bad boat cover for about 5 years.
Two months ago I decided to see if there was still some boat left that hadnt rusted or rotted away and removed the cover.. aside from some rotten seat wood and extensive mold/mildew damage the interior seemed ok., but the starter was dead.
I took the starter to a Auto Electric shop to find it to be completely corroded, unusable as a core, and a new one would cost $300+
A week later I took it to another auto electric shop and got a reman gear reduction starter for $75, as he took my corroded one as a core.
I installed this starter, shimless as the original one was, and cranked slow at first (possibly due to engine rust) then faster, then faster, then the engine fired up.--->> absolutely NO starter trouble or wered sounds.
I used the starter a few more occasions to run the engine and verify things were working ok on it.. then i let it sit for a few days or so...
....and invited my brother over to see how well the boat works after its 5 years of neglect. Well, when i tried to fire it up, it seemed to bind up with a force that rocked the entire engine. About every 3rd or 4th try, it would crank half a rev then bind. Sometimes it would grind. It sounded bad and I thought that teeth would be missing on the flywheel.
No teeth were missing upon removal of the starter, however, the reman starter teeth were kind of worn and i believe that may have been how I recieved it.
So then, I ordered a new mercury marine gear reduction starter(i think PG 260) for this model engine, installed it with no shim just like the original, only to have it just bind and kind of buzz upon starting.
A few days later, I got a GM starter shim kit and installed a large shim between the starter and the engine, tried it, and the same thing happens now as with the reman with the exception that it wont crank at all now. It sometimes binds, sometimes grinds and has that "skipping teeth" sound.
I did not shim it any further away as I figured, if its "skipping teeth", taking it further away would aggrivate that condition. After recieving the same bruise on my arm from installing and removing this starter so many times, i simply put the bolts back in the holes and covered the boat for the winter.
So that is where Im at. The flywheel looks and feels really good. Hehe. Oh, the engine, be it a 94 model year, was replaced maybe 7 or 8 years ago and believe it or not has probably less than 20 hours on it. The flywheel should be in top condition, without much use, as when the engine was fresh it started quickly without much starter operation. I have probably used the starter more within the past few weeks as the engine has seen in the first two years of its life(which isnt much at all; probably less than 3-4 minutes of cumulative starter use total).
I also have some questions as to why the starter might seem to bind/grind upon engaging, even though the starter case hasnt changed position...
Does the motor of the starter only engage once the solenoid has pressed the drive gear fully out or close to it? .. Or, rather, if the starter drive gear hits the flywheel head on, preventing its full extension, will the solenoid not be extended enough to engage the starter?
If so, then perhaps these starters are so close to the flywheel that the drive gears are smashing into the side of the flywheel head on and if they engage, grind at the tip without cranking the engine.
Im sorry for such a long post, but this binding (or non engagement) then grinding is rather perplexing to me. In all the starters ive changed i have NEVER had to shim one, so i wonder why this one is being such a problem.
Thanks for reading
__Ben"
"Hello. I am new to these message boards and I have a problem
I have already searched through some messages here trying to find more info on shimming starters for the GM Merc 8 cylinder engines, but i cant really find much on the subject..
.Thus, I wanted to post my problem here.
First, the boat is in storage as of today because its just going to get colder and colder from here on out.. Its a rather moot point to post here granted I can no longer have easy access to the engine compartment, however, I am absolutely perplexed at the behavior of the starter and can use some tips here later on if perhaps there is a rogue warm day to peel the cover back and mess with it some more.
Ultimately, this boat.. a monterey 225 cuddy? I think, is my dads and it has sat fermenting under a bad boat cover for about 5 years.
Two months ago I decided to see if there was still some boat left that hadnt rusted or rotted away and removed the cover.. aside from some rotten seat wood and extensive mold/mildew damage the interior seemed ok., but the starter was dead.
I took the starter to a Auto Electric shop to find it to be completely corroded, unusable as a core, and a new one would cost $300+
A week later I took it to another auto electric shop and got a reman gear reduction starter for $75, as he took my corroded one as a core.
I installed this starter, shimless as the original one was, and cranked slow at first (possibly due to engine rust) then faster, then faster, then the engine fired up.--->> absolutely NO starter trouble or wered sounds.
I used the starter a few more occasions to run the engine and verify things were working ok on it.. then i let it sit for a few days or so...
....and invited my brother over to see how well the boat works after its 5 years of neglect. Well, when i tried to fire it up, it seemed to bind up with a force that rocked the entire engine. About every 3rd or 4th try, it would crank half a rev then bind. Sometimes it would grind. It sounded bad and I thought that teeth would be missing on the flywheel.
No teeth were missing upon removal of the starter, however, the reman starter teeth were kind of worn and i believe that may have been how I recieved it.
So then, I ordered a new mercury marine gear reduction starter(i think PG 260) for this model engine, installed it with no shim just like the original, only to have it just bind and kind of buzz upon starting.
A few days later, I got a GM starter shim kit and installed a large shim between the starter and the engine, tried it, and the same thing happens now as with the reman with the exception that it wont crank at all now. It sometimes binds, sometimes grinds and has that "skipping teeth" sound.
I did not shim it any further away as I figured, if its "skipping teeth", taking it further away would aggrivate that condition. After recieving the same bruise on my arm from installing and removing this starter so many times, i simply put the bolts back in the holes and covered the boat for the winter.
So that is where Im at. The flywheel looks and feels really good. Hehe. Oh, the engine, be it a 94 model year, was replaced maybe 7 or 8 years ago and believe it or not has probably less than 20 hours on it. The flywheel should be in top condition, without much use, as when the engine was fresh it started quickly without much starter operation. I have probably used the starter more within the past few weeks as the engine has seen in the first two years of its life(which isnt much at all; probably less than 3-4 minutes of cumulative starter use total).
I also have some questions as to why the starter might seem to bind/grind upon engaging, even though the starter case hasnt changed position...
Does the motor of the starter only engage once the solenoid has pressed the drive gear fully out or close to it? .. Or, rather, if the starter drive gear hits the flywheel head on, preventing its full extension, will the solenoid not be extended enough to engage the starter?
If so, then perhaps these starters are so close to the flywheel that the drive gears are smashing into the side of the flywheel head on and if they engage, grind at the tip without cranking the engine.
Im sorry for such a long post, but this binding (or non engagement) then grinding is rather perplexing to me. In all the starters ive changed i have NEVER had to shim one, so i wonder why this one is being such a problem.
Thanks for reading
__Ben"