I have a 2001 Mercury 225 EFI and the starter and the bendix gear will not engage (lift up) to meet the flywheel. I have lubed it, albiet with a one second shot of WD40 and made sure not to get any inside the starter while doing it. I move the gear up and down the shaft and it seems to freewheel easily. I checked the voltage on my battery with a meter and it is reading 13.3 V. I disconnected the terminals on each and and both are free of dirt and corrosion with nice contacts, but I cleaned them with a wire brush and contact cleaner anyway. Still will not lift up or engage at all and seems to be spinning fast enough. I made sure red was on positive and black on negative for my battery contacts as well. I also pulled the starter off and apart and cleaned the brushes a bit and the contacts inside with contact cleaner. Magnet looks ok too. Hmmmm. Kinda at a loss and I see that starters are upwards of 250-300 bucks. OUCH. Anyone think of something else, before I drop a dime on a new one?
