Ok, so I recently bought a 1995 24ft Playcraft Pontoon with a 120 Force motor and I absolutely LOVE everything about it, with the exception of the fact that EVERY time I have taken it to the lake the same thing happens.....I end up getting towed in. I took the boat to the lake the first two times and it started great, I would run around the lake for about an hour to an hour and a half and then turn the motor off and fish for a while, or have some lunch and when I try to start it again it doesn't start it just sounds like the battery is dead (the starter pinion or bendix as some call it had been stuck in the flywheel the entire time.) So I twist it back down and try it again and it engages but doesn't have the strength to turn the engine over. I felt the starter and it was HOT and my buddy said he saw a little smoke come out of the starter (we had already had the cowling off). I pulled out the volt meter and checked the batteries and they were reading fully charged (avg 12.6 volts). I read some of the threads on this wonderful forum and saw some advice and did what it said, I sprayed some WD-40 on the shaft of the starter to allow the pinion (bendix) to disengage properly. This did not work, this last weekend I took the boat out again hoping it would work and it wouldn't even start, the starter would engage but would not turn the motor over. So I fished off the bank and was seriously disappointed. I have read just about every thread on this site regarding similar issues and it seems to be an epidemic of starter issues just like mine on these motors. I have removed the plugs to see if it was hydro-locked and turned the motor by hand and it didn't displace any water out of the cylinders, so it isn't hydro-locked. PLEASE give me some advice on what the issue is, and how to fix it......My family and I are dying to get it in the water and know that it will start when we need it to.
