I've got two 1999 175 HP Fichts on my boat and the port motor recently started making a horrible howling/screeching sound while cranking. It doesn't happen constantly, but as the motor cranks it will occasionally stop turning and this sound will start. From where the sound is coming from, I'm almost positive that its the clutch in the Bendix assembly slipping (see red arrow in attached parts drawing). This is designed to happen when the torque rating of the starter is exceeded to prevent damage due to a seized engine. However, the crankshaft turns easily and the motor runs fine. This only happens when cranking. I even went so far as to measure the maximum torque it takes to turn the crankshaft manually with a torque wrench on both the misbehaving port motor and the perfectly functioning starboard motor and they are exactly the same; 38 ft-lbs. I've swapped over the starter motor, starter relay, flywheel cover, and Bendix assembly from the starboard motor and I then replaced the Bendix assembly with a brand new one and replaced the journal bearings (#17 on the drawing) in both the engine block and the flywheel cover. None of this had any affect at all. All teeth in the gear train (on the starter motor shaft, top and bottom on the Bendix, and on the flywheel) appear to be in perfect shape. I'm really leaning towards this being an internal problem with the engine putting excessive torque on the starter gear train, but my hand crank torque measurements tell me that there's no problem. Anyone have any ideas here?
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