Starter dead or deeper trouble? HELP

[alfa]

HI everyone,
I've used this forum for some great info and now is time to ask for everyone's input/help/opinion.

I have a 93 Renken with a VP 3.0GLP-C (I believe) and it has been an oldie but a goodie to me as far as engine an drive and all that stuff. That was until Sandy hit us hard last year here in Jersey.
The boat was on trailer and winterized, with winter covers on and everything. I had the plug off and the area where the boat was drydocked was flooded pretty bad...

With fixing the house and everything that we've been dealing with, I didn't get a chance to look at the boat until last week, when I decided to summerize it and get it ready for water.

First sign of trouble was when I went to change engine oil - taking of the plug led to a good gush of clear water when I was expecting old oil. It was about 16-20oz of water, than oil started draining. Got me worried and wondering how water got in the engine... replaced all filter and oil and drive and all the rest and got ready to crank.

Years past I always turn the belt pulleys with wrench or by hand a couple times just to get things moving and loose, spray some starting fluid down the carb, give a bit of throttle and it would start each time, with smoke burning the fog oil.
This time I went to turn the pulleys and nothing moved. It was stuck and wouldn't budge. Tried the wrench on alternator and nothing. Took the belt off and started checking all pulleys one by one.

- Alternator and power steering was moving freely as they should.
- The circulation pump was stuck - tapped it with a mallet a couple of times and rolled it with my hands and it started spinning pretty good (some sandy sounds in there at first - could it be salt?)
- Crank shaft was stuck and there was nothing moving that pulley.

Took the impeller housing off and impeller and put a socket on the impeller splined shaft and gave it some muscle... was able to get it to move, and went slow just back and forth a little to not mess up anything.
Next took off the plugs - the one nearest to the outdrive (don't know what number that is) was pretty funky and looked like it had been in water... a bit corroded and with dark brown crap all over the points. The other plugs were clean and looked good.

Sprayed some WD40 down the hatches (disconnected fuel line from the pump) and went back to the wrench on the shaft and turned it more. I got it to turn many times but is never easy to turn - don't know if it's supposed to be easy though.

Now for the last step - went to crank the starter... no plugs, no fuel, and no impeller... just wanted to see it spin.
Starter clicks and nothing more - no turning at all.
The battery is new - voltage is great and I see the volt gauge dip from 12v to about 2v when I turn the key and starter clicks. Used the instructions here and shorted the starter at the relay and at the solenoid - again, that dreadful click and nothing.

So, now that you've read my novel , you think I have a wet/bad starter? Is the crank shaft suppose to turn with ease? Is there any way that the flywheel area where the starter engages is rusted/blocked/messed up and is not starter fault?

Please let me know what you think - I was thinking of trying to take off starter this week-end and test it off the engine, see if it spins, but the fact that the crank shaft was stuck and the oil was watery, has me worried that there may be some deeper issues.

Thanks and be safe.

 

[dannybye]

Re: Starter dead or deeper trouble? HELP

Some time ago my son-in-law did not put the cover over the 454 v8 before he closed the engine box. I used to do that because it leaked an to me it looked like it could with the right conditions get water in to the carb. Well the rest of the story is what I think you are describing. I don;t remember exactly how many cylinders had water in for couple of months ... but i was never able to get that motor running again.

Good luck Alfa but you are prolly in for an engine rebuild or worse.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Starter dead or deeper trouble? HELP

the starter should be able to turn the motor or break something/catch fire trying. First thing to do is to remove all the large terminals one at a time and polish them till they are shinny then put them back on. On the engine ground also clean around the bolt hole where the cable is attached. 12v does not like dirty connections. also do not use wing nuts on the battery cables use nuts and tighten them. Once done test again and see if the voltage still drops like a rock

 

[alfa]

Re: Starter dead or deeper trouble? HELP

thank for responding Glenn and Danny...
The cables on the battery are tight with the top connectors tight around the fat terminals. I'll clean the connectors at the starter tomorrow and try again, but I have to say, when cranking with ignition key or jumping at the starter poles, first is the click than it gets hot as if trying to turn but has too much load on it. I don't know if a wet/bad starter would click and heat up, or if that's an indication of a problem with turning the motor itself.

 

[alfa]

Re: Starter dead or deeper trouble? HELP

So starter came off yesterday - it was a mother loosening one bolt in that tight space with no room for leverage whatsoever. Many times I thought it would snap on me but is off and all good. Brought the starter to autoparts and they tested it - nothing moved at all and it tested dead.
I can see the flywheel turning with the crank shaft now that starter is off and it has gotten progressively easier to turn it by hand with "external" lubrication.

Can someone (Don S ... I was hoping from some input from you on this) help me with the right starter PN? There seem to be a million different part numbers out there for these motors and they all look the same.... 3.0GLP-D, SN 4012191824, Year 2005

Thanks