Jeff Stone
New member
Hello all, first time boat owner and I acquired a used 1997 Bayliner Capri 1952 with a Mercruiser 3.0L / Alpha 1 and I am having issues.
I got the boat from my father (only owner) he was just out on it last weekend and all was well until he went to start it up to flush it with fresh water after the trip and it was just making a spinning noise.
Long story short it was the starter and I got a new one instead of just a solenoid because the old starter was pretty rusted out and got it replaced no issue. (did not shim it because it was an exact match and the old one did not appear to be shimmed either.)
Tried starting the boat and the battery wires began to smoke so i stopped immediately. Cleaned off the connections from battery to starter and tried to start it again,(no smoking this time) and it began to roll over but clunked, grinded a little...i stopped, waited a few seconds, tried again and now it just grinds.
So my thought is before I remove the PITA starter again I wanted to see if I can narrow down if its a flywheel issue with chipped teeth, a faulty starter (or not installed properly by me) or if I have a seized motor, so I put it in forward gear went to the prop and tried to turn it counter-clockwise and it seems nearly impossible to turn. My thought is I can test flywheel, engine movement, and the starter all at the same time. If the engine rolls over, flywheel moves, and the starter still grinds...bad starter...but using my own 275 pound self I cant budge the motor manually using the prop....so is this a seized/hydrolocked engine or is there some other step i need to take before I can manually turn the engine over? Because compression has to be a bitch to move manually right?
(edit: I did verify the starter bolts are still nice and tight)
I got the boat from my father (only owner) he was just out on it last weekend and all was well until he went to start it up to flush it with fresh water after the trip and it was just making a spinning noise.
Long story short it was the starter and I got a new one instead of just a solenoid because the old starter was pretty rusted out and got it replaced no issue. (did not shim it because it was an exact match and the old one did not appear to be shimmed either.)
Tried starting the boat and the battery wires began to smoke so i stopped immediately. Cleaned off the connections from battery to starter and tried to start it again,(no smoking this time) and it began to roll over but clunked, grinded a little...i stopped, waited a few seconds, tried again and now it just grinds.
So my thought is before I remove the PITA starter again I wanted to see if I can narrow down if its a flywheel issue with chipped teeth, a faulty starter (or not installed properly by me) or if I have a seized motor, so I put it in forward gear went to the prop and tried to turn it counter-clockwise and it seems nearly impossible to turn. My thought is I can test flywheel, engine movement, and the starter all at the same time. If the engine rolls over, flywheel moves, and the starter still grinds...bad starter...but using my own 275 pound self I cant budge the motor manually using the prop....so is this a seized/hydrolocked engine or is there some other step i need to take before I can manually turn the engine over? Because compression has to be a bitch to move manually right?
(edit: I did verify the starter bolts are still nice and tight)
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