I’ve had my 28’ Commander for about five years now and have never had a problem with a starter motor. This past winter I had both Q engines rebuilt which included rebuilding the starters. After getting the boat back together and starting the engines only a couple times, the Bendix on one engine broke. The starter spun freely but the drive gear would not engage the flywheel. I took the starter out and had it repaired at a local shop. Re-installed it and it immediately broke again. The starter is back out and I’ll have it fixed but I don’t want to put it back in until I figure out what’s going wrong. It’s the original Prestolite starter and the original flywheel so I don’t think it’s an incompatible parts issue. The only thing that’s different is that I noticed the engine builder did not put back on the brackets that support the rear of the starter. I scrounged up a couple and I’ll put them back on both engines but it seems unlikely (at least to me) that the missing brackets would cause enough flex to damage the Bendix. I hope I’m wrong. That’s an easy fix. Other than that I’m out of ideas. I’ve been told that those engines did not use shims under the starter and I had two mechanics say they saw no unusual wear pattern on the gear. Any thoughts on what to check next? Thanks.
top of page
bottom of page
Morland and I agreed not to post after a second martini, but in violation, I will ask, "Is the starter rotating in the correct direction?"
Thanks Tim. I’m fairly certain it’s going the right way as the engine has started once or twice after each re-build before breaking. But at this point I’m out of ideas. The starter is off the engine and I’ll be re-checking everything, including the rotation. Thanks again.
I hope that no one changed the nose of the starter. There are a lot a different noses out there for small block chevys . I've had it happen to one of my trucks years ago when it was the wrong nose
I think it’s fixed. The first rebuilder used a roll pin to attach the drive gear to the shaft that wasn’t quite tight enough. After a few starts the pin spun out so the shaft would turn but not the gear. The guy at the shop I took the starter to put a new pin in that’s tighter. Starter went back on last Friday and after half a dozen starts or so the starter is holding up. Hopefully the end of that problem. Thanks for replying.