Broken starter mounting bilts

[Yzhogman]

I posted a few weeks ago that I had found a broken starter mounting bolt on the bottom of the engine compartment. I asked if this was indicative of anything and the general response was to simply replace with proper hardware, which I did. We have used boat once since then and everything seemed fine. Today I found the other mounting bolt broken. Is this just fatigue or is there something I should be checking?

 

[GA_Boater]

The other bolt may have been stressed when it was the only one holding the starter. The starter and bolts have a lot of force exerted on them when starting.

Might be a good idea to replace both bolts.

 

[dennis461]

Did you see my response in the other post?
You must shim the starter correctly or you will keep having problems.

And again.
You did not post the engine type !

 

[Yzhogman]

No I hadn't seen it. Thanks Dennis.

 

[Scott Danforth]

starter bolts generally dont fail. however things like improper shimming or hydro locking will take them out.

 

[gm280]

If the start gear is bottoming out against the starter ring gear or flywheel gear, the starter bolts will take a heck of a lot of stress. So see if they are messing too deep. If so you do need shims to alleviate that situation.

 

[dennis461]

and, you should also check flywheel for out of round or a single bent/missing tooth.
Set up a web cam and pointer looking into the hole, rotate crankshaft one full turn.

 

[Yzhogman]

So after hours upside down in the engine compartment I managed to get the broken remains of the starter bolt removed. I do have a manual but it's at home and I'm at the lake. I have seen someone shim a starter before and he was able to poke a small Philips screwdriver in a hole or port somewhere while the starter was installed. I don't know what he was measuring though as the starter gear wouldnt have been engaged. Since I don't have a manual can someone give me a crash course on how this is done on a Volvo penta 3.0?

And by the way I do not have a bracket on the rear of the starter going to the block.

 

[muc]

You need the bracket and 2 new bolts. You may need a new starter depending on the quality of the the one that's there now and how much it was moving around after the bolts got lose and broke.
You should never need to shim a marine starter, that's an automotive thing. Only time I've ever seen shims needed on a marine engine was due to somebody buying a crappy remanufactured or cheaply made starter.
Suggest you inspect the bolt holes and mounting surface of your starter and buy 2 bolts and a bracket from Volvo Penta.

 

[dennis461]

Same as before, people posting without knowing the motor design.
Get a .040 shim and start with that.


PLEASE POST YOU ENGINE MODEL !!

http://forum.chaparralboats.com/inde...starter-bolts/