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Starting problems in Marinette cruiser with single engine 318

t_bennett

New member
I just bought a 1966 Marinette

I just bought a 1966 Marinette 26ft Cruiser with a single engine 318. The batteries are full charge and the engine is good. When I try and start the engine the starter will engauge and then grind for a second and then nothing. I have to hit the starter several times just to get the same results. I don't know if it should have one but I have not found a voltage regulator as of yet. Does anyone know anything else to check before taking on a big job of replaceing the starter. Thanks
 
"Troy,

sounds like a bad st


"Troy,

sounds like a bad starter bendix to me."
 
"You might have water in the m

"You might have water in the motor from a leaking exhaust manifold or risers. I suggest you do this and right away:

1. Pull all the plugs.

2. Look for water droplets on them (it beads up) as you go, and note what cylinders they came out of.

3. With the plugs out, wheel it over. Note as you do it water blows out the rear cylinders.

4. If water comes out, shoot some oil in those cylinders and wheel it over some more, then put the plugs in and fire it up. Finally, after it's up to temperature, pull the drain plugs in the block and exhaust system (six total) or water will reenter the cylinders.

Naturally, if I are right about this, you'll need to replace the manifolds and possibly the risers. The important thing right now is to keep the cylinders from rusting out.


Jeff (32 Marinette)

PS: Have you looked at our Marinette owners web site?

http://marinetteboat.com/forum/"
 
"The starter seems to be it to

"The starter seems to be it to me but didn't know. Thanks Brian. Jeff I checked the cyl. for water and it was clear. I didn't know if this had a voltage regulator or not which I wanted to check everything before the starter. It Looks to me in changing the starter I will have to unhook the propeller shaft, motor mounts, and raise the engine. ?? Does this sound right if I have to replace the starter? Thanks for the info. Brian and Jeff"
 
"Troy,

Let me know how the


"Troy,

Let me know how the teeth on your flywheel look, i have one laying here if you need one, it's off an LM-318 standard rotation i believe.

I think if you just remove the electronic ignition wiring panel with the breakers off the back you can get that out from the top.

I doubt you'll have to raise the motor any or take anything else off."
 
"I think that's the older

"I think that's the older 318 polyspherical motor, not the later 318/ 360.

Jeff"
 
"I don't recall anything l

"I don't recall anything like that around the motor, I believe it has standard ignition. The motor sits down and mounts on two main beams in the boat and it is all I can do to take my hand and feel the starter. It appears to have no room on the flywheel end to romove the starter and the transmission end sits to low in the boat to get the starter out there also. From what I can tell the flywheel is in good shape but I will look again to make sure. I'm still wondering if this thing has a voltage regulator on it and if so where are the possible places it could be mounted. Thanks again for your help."
 
That's gotta be one of the

That's gotta be one of the older motors. They put the starter high up in the bell housing on later engines.

Jeff
 
"Troy,

You guys are correct


"Troy,

You guys are correct, id thought it had said 86,my bad. Yeah, that's probably a points system and a poly block. standing at the front of motor,starter is in back lower right.

Jeff, thanks for catching that!"
 
"Thanks guys for all the infor

"Thanks guys for all the information and giving me a direction to work in. Someone else said to check my grounds which I still have to do. I looked this morning before going to work and followed all the wires from the batteries and did not find any voltage regulator. All the wires are tied between the batteries, starter, alt,. ground and coil. I will make sure all the connections are clean and tight. If that doesn't do it I will be knee deep in starter replacement. I did chech this morning around the transmission end and I might be able to remove the starter there if the siloniod is not too big. It's a very tight spot. I'm not sure which end the starter bolts are on but if it's on the flywheel end I have an access panel under the steps going down into the cabin. It the bolts are on the starter side It's going to be rough. Thanks again and I'm sure I will be back in touch with more questions as I get deeper into this project."
 
"Well, if you do pull the star

"Well, if you do pull the starter--and it looks okay--be sure to get it rebuilt anyhow! You wouldn't want to go through that again, right?

Jeff"
 
One suggestion... I had proble

One suggestion... I had problems on my old Silverton 318 where the bendix would just howl when I tried to start and had to just touch the starter momentarily a few times to get it to engage. I loosened the starter bolts and there was a tiny bit of play which allowed repositioning the starter so the bendix cleared the teeth and engaged every time. Be careful not to strip a tooth off the engine gear.
 
Thanks for the info I was told

Thanks for the info I was told that the motor was built about two years ago and have not run but a few hours before sitting until I bought it just a few weeks ago. I noticed that the dist was loose so you could turn it by hand. I don't know who done the build job and haven't fooled with the starter yet. I did find a loose wire on the starter and tried to tighten it as good as I could but it didn't seem to help. When I could get the starter to engauge it sounds like it would just grind with very little movement in the engine. My plans was to take the starter off and replace it. The worse part of doing that rough job due to no room at all is that the possibility of it not fixing it.
 
"Troy,
If the starter is &#34


"Troy,
If the starter is "grinding" it is likely not an electrical problem although a loose starter wire has got to be fixed. It sounds like the bendix gear is either defective, has a broken tooth, or is somehow not perfectly aligned to mesh with the flywheel. I think removing it as was suggested by others and eyeballing it is the best bet. You can activate the starter when it is removed (make sure it is secure in a large vice as it has tremendous torque when fired) and see if the bendix gear thrusts outward as it should.

If it does, look at the alignment with the bell housing. If the starter is old and rusty looking, replacement will save you in the long run. If it looks like it was done with the engine, try the above test."
 
"Thanks Ed, I really didn'

"Thanks Ed, I really didn't think of the starter alignment. The starter will engauge into the flywheel but just has a grinding sound and has a very hard time trying to turn the engine. You may have hit the nail on the head when you mentioned rust. I noticed the metal parts inside the distributer had surface rust on them."
 
"Well I had the starter taken

"Well I had the starter taken off and had it checked, it was good. I am having a hard time figuring this out. I went ahead and put a new silonoid on the starter while it was off and had it checked again and again it checked out good. I checked all my grounds and positive connections, checked all the fuses and even tried to overide the ignition switch. Nothing but the same results, tries to enguage and grinds a little and then quits as if there were no power to it. Does anyone have any ideas?????? HELP"
 
I have a new battery with a fu

I have a new battery with a full charge. I even used a fully charged jump box and hooked to it just to make sure I had plenty of power and still no good. I have traced my wires to make sure there were no brakes and made sure any and all connections were tight. I just can't figure this one out. It has crossed my mind to buy another starter just because it would be new and I would know for sure that it was or was not the starter. I just don't know. I am running into a dead end which means I usually start replacing everything and I really didn't want it to get to that. Maybe I can run another ground wire to the starter and another ignition switch wire thus bypassing the old wiring?????? Just a thought. Any more ideas that I could try? thanks
 
"Have you done a compression t

"Have you done a compression test?

I had the same symptoms on my 440.

although I had a little water in 7 and 8

When I did the compression test 4 cylinders had nothing

Mine was running lovely to start

The head had flooded at some point and I left it for a week result

Wont start turns over slowly etc etc

I took the rocker covers of and found

seized valves and bent push rods

When I removed the heads it was all a rusty mess

The gaskets on the log exhausts had leaked into the top of the engine probably just as the engine was last turned of, Et Voila as they say.

Check compression (if you haven`t already done so)

Tony"
 
"Troy, It really sounds like a

"Troy, It really sounds like a bad ground. Take a heavy duty jumper cable and run from the battery ground terminal to the engine near the starter and try it then. Even though the cable ends and mating surfaces look clean often a film builds up between the two. I put three starters on an old Bronco I had. Screamed at the parts guy for selling me bad parts. Then my dad told me to try the jumper cable thing and well... I had to go apollogize to the parts guy...And I had done everything that you have done."
 
"Thanks guys, as far as a comp

"Thanks guys, as far as a compression test I don't know how to do that with out the starter. I have turned the motor over by hand and seems to be fine. I checked the cylinders for water and all seemed to be free of water. Whats funny is that the starter will spin like crazy on a test bench but once It was installed in the boat it won't do anything to speak of. I will try a good solid ground first and if that doesn't do it I am going to replace the starter switch and the switch wire between the starter and switch. If that doesn't do it I will be completely lost. Replace stater I guess. Thanks again guys for your much needed help. If anything else comes to mind that I could try please let me konw. Thanks"
 
"Does it turn over on the star

"Does it turn over on the starter with the plugs out?
Mine span over ok no plugs,
but when the plugs where in slowly. and it was just as if the battery was low or the starter was faulty.
The reality was the valves on some of the cylinders weren`t opening.
A compression test is easy,
if it will turn over without the plugs in.
Take them all out and try.
Buy a screw in compression tester, not rubber cone type. £18.00 GBP.
so probably $10.00 in US screw it in to the plug holes one at a time and crank it over.
Its an easy job that I wish I had done 2 weeks before, when my problem first appeared, I was convinced I had an electrical fault Timing, E.I. or starter related.
Get that done and eliminate it a.s.a.p.
Its worth doing anyway.
Good luck

Tony"
 
"The starter will not turn the

"The starter will not turn the engine at all. I took the plugs out and checked the cylinders for water and tried to turn the engine with the starter and still would not turn. I took a wrench and turned the engine approx three revolutions and it seemed to be just fine. That is why I felt like it had a bad starter or silonoid, I found the starter was good. I bought a new switch and wiring to rewire the switch to the silonoid today and hoped to get it on sometime this weekend. With my fingers crossed I hope to hear this thing turn over. I have a compression tester and if I get it to turn over I will check the compression even though I was told the engine was built approx 2 years ago just for the simple fact that I don't know anything about this motor. The previous owner told me that one head run hotter than the other and I asked a mechanic at the marina and he said one can run 20 to 30 degrees than the other. I don't know but I guess I'm learning fast. Thanks Tony and I will keep an update on my findings to let those that have been such a big help know what the problem was."
 
"I worked on the boat today, p

"I worked on the boat today, put a new ignition switch and starter wire. It didn't fix it. I think I found the problem. the starter is too close to the flywheel and it don't appear to have an adjustment. The starter has a lip on it which goes through an opening in the flywheel housing and looking at it, it appears to fit fairly snug in that opening. Then running in the same direction as the starter you have two bolts that holds it in. When the starter engauges it hits the flywheel instead of the starter gear going into the flywheel gear. The shaft that the starter gear rides on is almost hitting the flywheel teeth. Is there an adjustment on the starter or is the gear on the starter too big or the flywheel too big? I have hit a road block. Also when the gear on the starter tried to enguage the flywheel it stuck, I took a screw driver and pushed the starter gear back, when I tried to start again the starter did nothing. It almost seems like there is a breaker kicking when I try to start it causing the starter to do nothing until I fool with it for a while. I don't know what would cause this and I really don't know why the starter is too close to the flywheel."
 
"I think it is a case of the w

"I think it is a case of the wrong starter. It may seem close, but there is not much room for error the way the bendix engages. Don't rebuild it, replace it with another rebuilt starter. I did both my engines with Arco rebuilts and they work fine."
 
The block was replaced about 2

The block was replaced about 2 years ago but it appears that the flywheel housing bolted to the block is the one that was on the other block. I wondered if it was the wrong starter or the wrong flywheel. I don't know which one to replace first.
 
"Thanks, I guess that will hav

"Thanks, I guess that will have to be bought through a boat dealership or could you get one from a parts store. This is an old boat and I really don't know where to start when it comes to looking for parts."
 
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