The "starter"ling truth!

[cte069]

Hey guys I have 4.3 gl Volvo penta. I melted the starter trying to time it. Lesson learned don't trust spark plug wires number by previous owner... Any way to the beans and franks-
Is there any difference between a car starter vs a boat starter? So you can probably guess what I did. I had a old starter off a Chevy laying around and slapped it on there to get it going. I was told boat starters are made to produce little spark on crank up to keep you from going boom? I notice some replacements are blk coat and some are not, aka look like a regular car starter.. Why can you buy a boat starter off eBay for 79 bucks and the dealer quoted me 250 ish?
Now to easy some tension before someone freaks out on me the back seat is out ( fresh motor rebuild) and sundeck off while doing test runs on the lake to chase any gremlins out. So what's the verdict? Do I need to switch back to a marine starter before I put the sundeck and back seat back on? I'm not trying to do the finishing touches on my floating explodable!

 

[Lou C]

No Title

Ahh...the use of an auto starter...in an inboard boat...can get you killed...as in...blown up...so forget about cheaping out with an auto starter and go to a marine parts place and order either an Arco Marine starter, or a Sierra Marine starter. They are ignition protected, to prevent sparking in the possible presence of gas vapors. The same is true of marine alternators, and marine distributors.

 

[GA_Boater]

The difference between auto and marine starters isn't less sparks, it's shielding/screens to keep gas vapors from igniting. Since gas vapor is heavier than air and sink in the bilge to about starter level, I think you can see the need for protection. I see you have about three options;

1. Buy a marine starter
2. Call some auto electrical shops about getting the old starter rebuilt.
3. Swap the end caps from the old starter to the new starter and any part on the old starter with a screen. I think it's only the ends, including behind the bendix snout.

There is a fourth option - Get your life insurance increased and only boat alone. Every year the news has stories about boats exploding or catching fire, often right after re-fueling. Play it safe.

 

[cte069]

I guess the info I was told was definetly valid. Like I said I didn't want to put the finish touches on a floating explodable. Thanks for the info!

 

[jeffnick]

I'd take my car starter to the re-builder and ask if he could marinize it.

 

[cte069]

Funny thing is I had that marine starter rebuilt when I first got the boat. It was turning over very slow thus I thought it was the problem. Of coarse it wasn't the prob. Slow rotation was due to 3 spun mains and a handful of rod bearings. Murphy's law-as soon as I mounted the new rebuilt starter it turned over once then the motor locked up. I prob had a good starter rebuilt... Anyway the cost to rebuild is only 20 bucks less than a new one. Plus turn around is a lot faster to just grab the new one. The car starter that I got on it is a lot bulkier than the original. I prefer the smaller one just for more gaps for me to visually inspect stuff. Plus it was a pain in the a$$ to hold the bigger one up in that awkward boat position to mount.