Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

[further]

Please excuse the question, but I am new at this. Is the bendix gear supposed to stay locked into the fly wheel as long as you have the key turned to start the motor? My starter spins, the bendix gear slides up and engages with the flywheel but after a second slides back down and just spins. Can't get the engine running and think this might be the issue.
Thanks in advance

 

[john from md]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

This can happen for several reasons. Low battery, high resistance in cable or solinoid, worn out bendix, nut backed off top of starter shaft allowing Bendix gear to hit flywheel, engine kicking back due to incorrect timing or too lean a mixture.

You can check the battery pretty easily, if you are handy and can do a voltage drop check at the starter wire you can discount those also.

Start eliminating and let us know what is left.

John

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Thanks for the info. Checked the battery (seller said it was new and it looks it) charged it and got 13.5. Picked up a new starter so I'll try that - thinking the bendix shaft is no good. so will try and see what happens. I think i flooded the engine also trying to start it. Pulled the plugs to let it air out. Will try tomorrow and report back.
Thanks again

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starterlease HELP

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starterlease HELP

Man getting frustrated here!! So the battery has good charge - thats not the issue. Battery cables have no resistance - checked, not the problem. Replaced rebuilt starter with brand new starter and new solinoid(broke in teh process of replacing the starter) Put in new plugs. Ready to go right. not. Choked and turned the key, bendix engaged for a good 5 seconds or so, motor started and ran for about 15 or 20 seconds then died out (sounds like she wants to go). Tried again and same issue, bendix gear drops down and spins and motor doesn;t seem to get enough revs in the flywheel to get going. Any other suggestions of why the gear does not stay up and spin the flywheel even as i have the key turned to start? My father in law is a mechanic (auto) and we've spent all day trying to figure this out and have run out of ideas. PLease help.
Thanks

 

[john from md]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Try this. Clean the plugs, set trottle in neutral but not start position and turn the key without using the choke. I have a theory that when these engines get flooded, they kick a just enough to let the Bendix spool down.

I have experienced the same thing with my 85hp and it is a well tuned machine.

John

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Thanks for the info. Tried all variations of throttle position (neutral and cold start position) and starting with and without choke and no dice. same thing happens, bendix engages for a second, then drops down and keeps spinning as long as I have the key turned. We are stumped????? I guess I'll be taking her to the marina in the morning to have someone else look at it. Before doing so, I will be testing the stator output and trigger output per the OEM manual to see if they are a possible issue. Feels like its something simple like a bad ground or something. ARRGGGHHHH!!!

 

[john from md]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

It could also be a bad replacement starter. I bought one earlier this year and had to send it back because the Bendix was bad.

John

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Nah, don't think so since the starter i started with was supposedly rebuilt (thinking it may have been a bad one) i bought a brand new one that i tried. Did the same exact thing that the rebuilt one did so I took it out and will be returning it to get my $215 back. When I installed the new starter and solenoid this afternoon and fired it up for the first time, it actually ran nice for about 15 seconds and pooped out. The bendix stayed engaged until it was running. Second time i tried to turn it over the bendix engaged for a second and dropped down and didn't give the flywheel enough rotation to get the engine going.

 

[gato760]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

It sounds to me like your first turn creates enough current to get the bendix engaged and started, but after the first switch it does not have enough juice.

**Note: I am not a outboard mechanic at all, but I was a jet engine mechanic.

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Whats wierd is that the gear does not stay up even when I have the key engaged in the start position.. I know in a car for example, if you turn the key to start the car, the gear stays engaged and you would here a grinding. WIth this, the gear drops down and just spins as long as I have the key turned to the start position. Note that there is no slow down of the starter either, so I'm not sure its a battery issue.

 

[chitownborn]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

if you can try another battery, like gato said you may have enough juice on the first shot, but the battery may not recover enough for any more attempts, these starters draw alot of power to start these engines, hook up a meter while cranking and see if theres a major voltage drop, i believe and i may be wrong but volts shouldnt drop past 9 1/2 while cranking good luck don

 

[john from md]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

With a good battery and new stater, you should not see less than 10.5 volts a the starter positive contact.

Just for grins, look at the top of the bendix gear and see if it is hitting the flywheel. Sometimes the nut on the shaft is not adjusted properly and the Bendix gear hits the flywheel. This causes it to stop rotation and immediately come down.

The original shaft nuts were peened. Lately I have seen them using blue loctite and I believe this allows the nut to rotate as the starter is in service.

John

 

[matcor9925]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

Further,

I am having the exact same issue. My outboard is 1998 Force 75HP. See my post:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=327948

I've tried a new battery, starter, and battery cables.

If I move my negative battery cable from the main engine ground to the opposite side of the engine block to another ground point, the bendix stays engaged and the motor cranks like a champ. Obviously I want to fix the problem rather than just fix the symptom and don't want to operate it in this manner. Please look at my thread and see if this sparks any thoughts.

 

[further]

Re: Bendix Gear on force 90 starter

All, thanks much for everyone's input - it has been very valuable and this forum is great. I took the boat to a marina on Sunday morning and after about 5 minutes, the mechanic did a few tests and found no compression on the bottom cylinder. Could be ring or something in any case requiring rebuild. Sucks especially since the seller had it running and said it ran great last year. So bought a boat, didn't even get it on the water and now i'm stuck with a boat that I can't use. SO I will be selling it as a non running Force 90, 18' bayliner if anyone is interested in the northeast PA area.
Thanks again.