Starter gear not engaging

"1994 V6 60 Deg. Evinrude 175

"1994 V6 60 Deg. Evinrude 175 Hp.

The starter drive gear seems to spin free. this turns the driven gear that spins the pinion worm shaft and in turn should make the drive pinion assembly ride up the pinion worm shaft and engage the fly wheel.
my problem is that the drive pinion assembly just spins and will not ride up the shaft to engage the fly wheel. I've taken the assembly out and checked the moving parts and they seem to work ok in my hand and I also checked it against the shop manual drawing and everything seems to be there and working. but when i put it through the test with ignition switch every thing just spins without engaging.
I was wondering if anyone has any idea what can be causing this to happen. and if so what can i do to fix it.
I included 2 pics.
Thanks
Gear Assembly"">Gear Shaft

Either the Bendix gear is not

Either the Bendix gear is not as free as you think or the motor is not spinning as it should due to poor battery or bad connection somewhere.

Clean the Bendix and lubricate very lightly.
Check all connections from battery through to starter including the negative.

Possible also of course that the solenoid contacts are bad. Try cautiously shorting the two main connections on the solenoid together.

Also possible that the starter motor is faulty or just needs new brushes or the commutator cleaning

"Or, which is not uncommon, th

"Or, which is not uncommon, the bendix is engaging but the 'clutch' is slipping."

I Checked the battery voltage

I Checked the battery voltage at the starter and it was 12.67 VDC. I lubed the bendix gear with wd-40 and it spins up shaft with the touch of my finger. I checked the connections on the battery and solenoid/starter and they are clean with no corrotion at all. I also byepassed the solenoid to start and got the same results. How fast does the starter need to spin in order to make the bendix ride up the shaft?