Starter Motor BENDIX gear does not rise

[Splash]

Hi guys.

Hope you are all well and catching plenty of fish!

My bendix gear on my starter motor will not rise and engage flywheel.

When I turn ignition on, the bendix gear just spins.

Please help me engage this bendix gear on the flywheel.


SPlash

[Spaniard_King]

Grease bendix, check battery voltage is sufficient at starter when cranking, check rpm of starter (need hand tacho) that should be about it.

[GBC]

Silly question, but is your battery fully charged? Try hooking it up to the car with jumper leads and hitting the ignition of the boat. EDIT: DOH - Garry beat me to it - and that's the extent of my mechanical knowledge!

[Splash]

Thanks boys.

I am about to put battery on charger and i will let you know outcomes.

SPLash

[Splash]

Yep - battery low - now on charger.

WIll let you know of outcome.

SPlash

[skipalong]

mate if you have no luck, and the gear spins but does not throw, it is more likely to have a broken plunger fork.

justin

[Spaniard_King]

Plunger fork eh, mus be a new addition to a v4 starter:-/

[gawby]

We had the same problem with Bretts
boat and it turned out to be the earth lead
from the motor back to the battery was
rooted. Changed that and no problems.
Graeme

[Splash]

THanks boys.

I have left battery on charger overnight - now fully charged and I will connect it up and see how we go.

Gawby - How did you detemrine the earth lead was rooted?

SPlash

[Spaniard_King]

Splash.. use the earth only on a set of jumperleads if this is the problem the starter will work with the lead and fail without them . You must only use the earth to determine this

[cormorant]

Put some viagra in it's tank. Will fix it no worries.

Sorry couldn't help myself

[gawby]

Splash, we had the same problem and it
was a matter of going through the possibilities
of what was wrong. Process of ellimination.
Changed the battery, not that.
Oiled the bendix gear, not that
and so on until we put a jumper lead from
the motor to the battery and then what
do you know away it went.
I know you will ask so i will tell you connect one end of the
jumper lead to where the earth lead is on the motor and the other end to the negitave side of the battery. Try and start it.
This will tell you if the earth lead is rooted or not.
You can also do the same with the power lead to
check you are getting full power through the lead.
Graeme

[Splash]

Thanks Cormorant - lol - I may just grab soem viagra from my bathroom cabinent and dose him up :-)

THanks Gawby. I put the fully charge battery back on. Still no start. I then looked closely at the shaft and noticed gummed up, hard grease/oil that did not allow the spring to move freely.

I removed the nut and cleaned the shaft and spring - and then reinstalled.

SUCCESS!

Thanks for you input fellas - this is a good thread for future reference for others to be aware of - soem good root casue analysis.

Splash

[Splash]

Well,

After buying a new battery today (Seamastergold MV70) and hooking it up, I still cannot raise that little bendix gear..

I will attempt to use a different -ve battery lead tomorrow and try..

I am damn stumped on this one.. :-(

SPlash..

[Noelm]

the spline that the gear sits on needs to be clean and dry(ish) no grease, other wise it will stick after a while (as you know) maybe a light spray of WD/CRC/ anything.

[Splash]

THansk Noelm.

I will clean out the the grease from the shaft and apply some spray...

SPlash

[mattyd]

Hey Splash. Sorry to bump an old thread but I've got the same problem with my 2006 ETEC 90 that's started in the last few months.

At first it would take 2-3 turns of the key to get the engine to crank, now it's 5-10!

Upon closer inspection I noticed that when engine fails to start, the bendix just spins relatively slowly. But when it does crank it spins up very fast and starts immediately.

We've given it a small clean of excess grease around the collar, so my next step will be to check battery and starter motor terminals and leads.

I was interested to know what fixed yours in the end.

I've got it booked in to Downes marine in 2 weeks in case we can't fix it. It's just not worth the risk of getting stuck out somewhere with a dead starter motor.

Matt

[STUIE63]

one other possibility that has not been mentioned is the battery terminal being dirty or not tight or having wingnuts
Stuie

[Stik-ugly]

Just to add I had a similar problem on four stoke 40 mercury and found that it was the solenoid. Because this is a Yammie power head that they have a solenoid mounted separate of the starter on the block

[mattyd]

Looks like I solved my ETEC starter problem simply by re-seating a fuse that sits in it's own grommet near the starter motor.

We did inspect the fuse housing in the trouble shooting phase, but later I noticed that the fuse itself was actually sitting up on an angle slightly ajar.

Have performed 20-30 test starts and been out for 4 days at Tincan Bay without the problem recurring once.