H. I. McDunnough
Regular Contributor
Yesterday I heard a ticking sound coming from under the recoil starter on my 1979 Mariner 40 hp motor. I removed it and found that the recoil starter had been rubbing on the flywheel. it looks like it took quite a bit of material off, as well as, melting the pawl in place. I did have the flywheel off a year or two ago to fix a lighting coil screw that had backed off up into the flywheel. I believe that I put everything back together right. I do wonder how much end play the crankshaft should have. You can see in the photos that there is some. I can't figure out any other way that these two parts can come in contact. The motor runs great. I am contemplating replacing the pawl and shimming up the starter, as I know that this motor has no shims on the crank. Please comment with anything that could help me.