3.0GS Starter Problems

[gator fan josh]

Having trouble with my starter on my 2000 VP 3.0GSPEFS. Last week I was out and noticed the starter was making a grinding noise. So I pulled the starter and it appeared that the ends of the pinion gear was worn. I had the starter rebuilt by the local recommended shop. I put the starter back on and the engine cranked fine with no noise in the driveway. I took the boat out and again it cranked fine at the ramp. While I was out the engine stalled and when I went to crank the motor all I heard was the starter spinning without engaging the flywheel. I got towed in and made it back home. I removed the starter and everything looked ok. I inspected the flywheel and it looked ok to me, I have attached a picture of it. When I put the starter back on the engine it would crank the motor for as long as I would hold the key. After I let off the key and tried again it did the same thing of spinning but not engaging. I measured the battery voltage to be 12.55V and I measured resistance on the positive battery cable and the starter chassis to the negative terminal and they were both less than .1 ohms. Does anyone have any advice for me? I have tested the new starter with jumper cables and a screwdriver on my boats battery and the bendix comes out fine. To me the only other thing would be the ring gear on the flywheel but I hate to pull the motor in the middle of the season.

Thanks,

 

[gator fan josh]

No Title

I guarantee this doesn't help. Now real question is why did it strip out the brand new planatery gear in the starter?

 

[Bondo]

Does anyone have any advice for me?

Ayuh,..... Either bring that one back to the guy that rebuilt it for ya,....
Or,.....
Order a new 1 from iboats, 'n throw it on,.....

With the new permanent magnet starters, I just toss 'em, 'n replace with new now-a-days,...

 

[gator fan josh]

No Title

So stripped gear had me worried so I pulled spark plugs and there was water in #4 cylinder. Then I removed exhaust elbow and the last maintenance guy put rtv all over gasket and had all but 1 of the water jacket holes plugged. Also there is water in exhaust manifold. How do I figure out if this is just from a wave crashing on the back of the boat while coming off plane? I can turn the engine over easily with a ratchet on the alternator. What do I need to do before I put a new gasket on aND put it all back together.

Thanks,

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Pull the studs, 'n clean the junk off the manifold, 'n riser with a flat file, to clean flat cast iron,....
The gasket surfaces should be 'bout 1/4" wide after ya clean 'em,....

Get Mercruiser gaskets, 'n put it back together, Dry, no sealant,....

While ya got it apart, replace the shutters that are supposed to be at the top of the down-pipe, they stop any backwash from gettin' into the motor,...
They're also the 1st thing burnt up, when run without water flows,...

 

[gator fan josh]

No Title

Thanks for the reply, I don't see any shutters in the attached picture. Am I looking in the wrong place? Also where I thought the last guy filled the gasket with sealant was actually pn4 in the picture. I don't understand why they would block 3 of the holes but it must have a reason.