starter bendix no engaging

[bob johnson]

1995 115 hp ocean runner.

starter bendix will not kick out to engage the flywheel, the motor spins when you turn the key though....

the starter has never given me trouble in the 1.5 years i have had the motor...not one hitch... ran the boat last saturday.

during this past week i decided to check the high speed jets, and i took the motor cover off and the air box and worked on the carbs from the front...over three different nights. i made a tool to allow me to access the jets in the lower carbs with out taking the lower motor cover off.

I put the air box back on a few times during the week.... there are plenty of wires working their way in bwtween the carbs in the front of the engine.

Is it coincidence that part of the starter just stopped working right after i worked on the carbs...or have I pinched a wire?

I did find a purple wire dissconnected from its bullet connector in front.. looks like it went to the primer anyway...

I am wondering if there is a wire tha could be pinched or dislodged that runs the bendix portion of the starter.

I have a spare starter selinoid on the bench , but before i try that, Id like to try what ever else i could that doesnt involved as much dissasembly

PS there SEEMS to be enough battery juice... the tilt-trim motor runs fine!!!

but I really dont know the batteries charge level at the moment( at work now)

hope to hear from someone...thanks

bob

 

[dwco5051]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

Sounds like a little cleaning and lube on the shaft may fix this. If the starter is spinning fast enough the starter should engage. First check that the battery is fully charged. Move the Bendix up and down by hand to make sure it is free. If there is resistance or it feels like it is sticking clean and lube.

 

[Al-53]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

First off make sure all connections are clean.....take them off and clean with a scoth brite pad.....from Battery to Starter....shine them up..lugs and studs....

then take some deep creep and give the starter shaft a quick spray and work the bendix up and down a few times by hand....to clean out the splines....its better if you take the bendix off and clean..then add a drop or 2 of 3-1 oil to shaft and bendix...

DON"T use WD-40....it will gum up in time.....any light machine oil will work like 3-1 oil....

Brake cleaner will clean it also....but just a quick squirt is all....do not drench it....

If this does not help...you need to measure the Voltage from the solenoid to the starter to make sure you have enough juice going to starter to get enough RPM's to get the bendix to rise up

Al

 

[bob johnson]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

ok thanks for the replies... I had planned all that eventually...

this motor has the starter totally enclosed, you have to take the starter out to clean and spray the bendix!!!

you cannot see the engagment!!

and I wanted to just know about any possible wires that could have been knocked off mostly..because the timing falls right when i was playing around on the front of the motor a lot...

in the back of my mind i am hoping right now it is a loose wire or a weak battery ( even though the tilt still works).

thanks again

bob

 

[HighTrim]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

I cant really think of any wires there that may be pinched as you say, that would affect the starter bendix, however, could one of the wires that you noticed disconnected shorted and drained your battery? That would be my first guess, so I would test that battery first.

Good luck.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

after looking at my manual wiring diagram, I have to concur that it is probably a bad bedix or weak battery as only two wires seem to feed the starter the red and yellow and the black...

so if the starter is spinning, that would seem to verify power to the starter!!!

maybe the bendix is supposed to jump out automatically..unlike a car starter.

remember when in the old days if your starter just spun you could stick a crowbar down there and touch as much stuff as possible and the starter would jump over!!! ha ha ha

so Ill charge the battery and give another try when i get home

seems like i am gonna have to drop that lower cowling anway, because i am seeing a gas drip from the lower port carb.....


bob

 

[bob johnson]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

ok, lesson learned....weak battery

didnt think it could have been that because the trim motor worked so well.

I was under the impression the trim motor really sucked juice...

not so..battery was at about 10%, must have left something on..

ran it up to 60% and just took a check.,....sure enough cranked right away..

so put it back on slow charged and chalked the lesson up to my learning curve...

the tilt does need that muuch juice

thanks...hope this helped someone else maybe too

bob

 

[dwco5051]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

Carbureted engines will sometime leak fuel out from the float bowl when the motor is tilted up. Take a good look and see if you can locate where it is coming from before you tear it all apart. This may be normal and not a carb leak.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: starter bendix no engaging

Carbureted engines will sometime leak fuel out from the float bowl when the motor is tilted up. Take a good look and see if you can locate where it is coming from before you tear it all apart. This may be normal and not a carb leak.

I looked and looked and it was coming from the side.... I really could'nt tell, but I suspected it was the same spot the two starboard carbs were leaking


THE BRASS ball plugged hole that goes into the float bowl!!

and sure enough after I TOOK IT OFF, i FOUND THAT IS WHAT IT WAS

really must be a design fault of the plastic carb bodies.

I degreased like crazy and super glued the starboard carbs while on the block... the port is getting rebuilt tomoorow with a new kit and I totally dissasembled the carb and super glued that brass ball back in place...

I had some white residue in the carb body and bowl..i think i must have gotten salt water in that gas at some point..or the previous owner did...

I have a water seperator!!

bob