Odd Starter Issues 4.3GLPEF 1999 Volvo Penta

[Captain Fluegel]

I hate to keep bothering you fine fellows and ladies, however once again i have been stumped by what i thought to be a simple repair. As stated in the title I have a 1999 VP 4.3 that was, well neglected would be the polite term for it. I have replaced all the floors and carpets. The wood underneath the seats, all replaced, Sun deck, replaced. Motor has run fine but always sounded terrible on start up, like the starter was hitting the flywheel/flex plate. I had thought shimming starters was not something you did on a boat so i was a little confused by the pounding. It was annoying but seemed to be working just fine until one day at the lake, on the water, in a secluded area... It made the sound of a starter grinding and the motor didn't turn over. The starter would spin up and the belts would move, a little and then grinding. I thought I had lost some teeth but upon inspection i had only lost maybe 20% of the front of the teeth over about an inch of teeth. I assume, dangerous i know, that the pinion gear should be across the entire flywheel/flex plate. So while the starter was removed I took it to Autozone and had them test it, it tested "good". bought some shims and put the smallest one on first and hit the starter. The motor appeared to begin the starting process(all belts and pulleys turning), but then stopped after a very brief moment, maybe a second or two and made a kind of grinding noise. Its almost as though the actuator was shooting out the pinion and then retracting prematurely, before i let off the starter switch... Is this a starter relay, solenoid, a bad _______?

Stumped...

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,... What did the ring gear teeth look like, when ya had the starter off,..??

Starters rarely to never get full tooth engagement,....

Sounds like the bendix drive in yer's is worn out, as ya say the teeth are torn up over 20% of it,...

Donno if ya can still buy Just the bendix drive, or need to just replace the whole starter,.....

 

[Captain Fluegel]

If the bendix drive had gone out would that not have been detected in the test? A little wear on the ring gear, over an inch of teeth, maybe 8 teeth are missing the first 20 % of the teeth. the pinion gear also shows a tiny bit of wear.