Farmer Paul
Recruit
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2025
- Messages
- 4
Hello everyone...looking for some help with a starter issues with my 1998 islander 2001...never had an issue with starter in 5 years I have had the boat...it has been well maintained and a garage queen ..never spent a night in the water.
Last fall when I was getting it winterize..the starter seemed to grind and not engage ...2 or 3 times it made the sound then fired right up.
This season it started out ok but quickly started the grinding with every start....It almost left me stranded on lake Erie...pulled the starter ...oh boy what fun...for a man near 70 with a fused neck...took starter to a reputable repair shop ( 1 I have used for 30 plus years )..Put rebuilt starter in got about 20 starts with no issue...then the grinding started again..pulled starter and took it back to repair shop...Bought an aftermarket starter from them and installed while I waited for shop to repair my OEM starter ...same deal with new starter about 20 or 30 starts and the grinding returned
Spoke with boat mechanic I use ..very knowledgeable/ reputable/ honest ...spoke with him ..he told me to pull the new starter before it cause damage to my ring gear ...and to use a camera to inspect the ring gear.....Ring gear looks fine teeth are all good ...Installed my rebuilt oem starter ...got 2 starts out of it and now the drive is not engaging ....pulled again and back to rebuild shop ....
Waiting for news from rebuild shop about oem starter....There were no shims on oem when I pulled it ...A friend found a thread here that said people do shim them ... that sounds like it would keep gears from. Engaging properly...
Has anyone here had this problem ? Solution? Have also been told the parts rebuild shops get now are not always the best quality...my other option is to buy a mercruiser oem starter or one from. Sierra ...did not want to drop close to $500 canadian for a starter..
Any help or information is greatly appreciated !!
Best Regards...Farmer
Last fall when I was getting it winterize..the starter seemed to grind and not engage ...2 or 3 times it made the sound then fired right up.
This season it started out ok but quickly started the grinding with every start....It almost left me stranded on lake Erie...pulled the starter ...oh boy what fun...for a man near 70 with a fused neck...took starter to a reputable repair shop ( 1 I have used for 30 plus years )..Put rebuilt starter in got about 20 starts with no issue...then the grinding started again..pulled starter and took it back to repair shop...Bought an aftermarket starter from them and installed while I waited for shop to repair my OEM starter ...same deal with new starter about 20 or 30 starts and the grinding returned
Spoke with boat mechanic I use ..very knowledgeable/ reputable/ honest ...spoke with him ..he told me to pull the new starter before it cause damage to my ring gear ...and to use a camera to inspect the ring gear.....Ring gear looks fine teeth are all good ...Installed my rebuilt oem starter ...got 2 starts out of it and now the drive is not engaging ....pulled again and back to rebuild shop ....
Waiting for news from rebuild shop about oem starter....There were no shims on oem when I pulled it ...A friend found a thread here that said people do shim them ... that sounds like it would keep gears from. Engaging properly...
Has anyone here had this problem ? Solution? Have also been told the parts rebuild shops get now are not always the best quality...my other option is to buy a mercruiser oem starter or one from. Sierra ...did not want to drop close to $500 canadian for a starter..
Any help or information is greatly appreciated !!
Best Regards...Farmer
