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Crusader 454 starter problem, please help

B

Booya

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Aloha from Hawaii, went fishing yesterday for 10 hours, upon coming into Marina and bringing engines to idle, I heard a loud knocking noise. Upon return to slip and shut engines down. Check oil and looks great, tried to start port engine and it tried to turn over but wouldn't. Tried a second time and I hear is a loud noise similar to what a skill saw sounds like when you pull the trigger. Oil is good, battery no problem, other engine works perfectly. Being in Hawaii i have limited mechanic resources so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Boat: 2007 Tiara 3200 Open with 454 Crusader's 700 hours.
 
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Aloha and welcome to ME.com

The skill saw sound is likely the starter motor running under no load....so the question is why....the solenoid on the starter has engaged (motor runs) so why doesn't the gear engage...?? so the question is what happened the when "tried to turn over but wouldn't"?

Worst case would be a mechanical lockup ....will the crank turn over by hand?? can usually use a pry bar on the ring gear of the flywheel - access thru the timing cover on the flywheel cover...under the heat exchanger..
 
Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... 1st step is pull the starter, 'n see why it ain't workin',....
 
the knocking noise out of the engine is alarming. It's possible to have water ingestion. When the starter tried to crank the locked engine the pinion sheared in half. I know its a scary story, but it's happened to me. Except I was a hundred miles from home; Oh, and it was a Mopar. :cool:
 
Sounds like maybe the mechanism which engages the starter pinion gear may have gone south. When the solenoid pulls in the plunger a shift lever moves the pinion to mesh with the flywheel. If the lever is not working the pinion may be sliding into the flywheel. Might go with Bondo and pull the starter to inspect the pinion operation. God Luck !
 
Update: The engine was hydro locked. The starter was damaged, the internal plastic teeth were stripped. We replaced the starter. We pulled the plugs and 3 of them on one side had water. We got the engine running and maintaining temperature and pressure. We are going to replace all risers and just installed a new fresh water system to flush engines with fresh water.
 
Okay,, but be damn sure you un that motor dry of water (shut the seacocks or etc.) before shutting it down to replace the parts. And be sure to drain the block and etc. before removing anything or gallons of water will flow into the motor.

Jeff

PS: If you didn't do this, you'll have to go through the plugs removal process again BEFORE you do anything else or water will lay inside there, doing all kinds of damage.
 
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