changing port engine starter 322
 

so my 3 year old mercruiser starter has decided to give me troubles whats the best way to swap it? pull the engine? or pull the exhaust from both engines and hang upside down? the motors are magnums so i can lay on them. im really not looking forward to doing this......


thanks

neil

Are you positive it's the starter and not the slave solenoid

+1. I also "thought" my starter was bad a couple years ago. I started to pull it, but once standing on head I noticed the ground cable going to the block had came loose! I cleaned up the cable ends, put some dielectric grease on them and tightened them up. Starter never sounded so healthy.

Good way to test it make your oven heavy duty (4 or 2 agw min) jumper cable for the negative. Jump between the battery and the block and see if it changes anything.

if its not the solenoid,,,,,,,Pull the exhaust,,,,it will give you enough room

+1

$25 and 10 minutes and you may be back in business.

Isnt the solenoid on the starter?? Sounds like the same pain in the ass to me.....I'm already questing my decision going to twins...:)

+1.....Same thing happened to mine on the starboard motor 2 years ago. I didn't do it (I have short arms LOL), but we did pull the exhaust and got it changed out in the boat.

the starter in there spins but doesn't engage. after a few tries it will engage and turn it over with little effort. I don't want it to wreck my short season

I don't want to give bad advice, but still sounds like a voltage problem / cranking amps to me..

Not the slave. It's on top of the motor. Symptom would be a click, nothing happens.

to me if it was a voltage problem it would struggle to turn it over when engaged. but it doesnt

I would check all connections and grounds first, as best you can. You can isolate the starting circuit by jumping the 2 large terminals on the slave solenoid. If it cranks over, you've got a bad slave, starter switch, NSS, etc. Had my slave go bad last year. Took it apart, cleaned, reassembled. $0 fix.

Does sound like a bad starter though, based on your later posting.

If the starter spins but doesn't engage it is the bendix. ( attached to the top of the starter )

yep and about 3 years and 60 hours im a bit dissapointed

well, I had my small friend who was able to roll off the front of the engine and bend along the stringers to get to the starter without taking anything apart other than the raw water hose.

this is what I found
http://i1316.photobucket.com/albums/...psddk64ttv.jpg

this is what I did to hopefully prevent it from happening in the future

http://i1316.photobucket.com/albums/...psoetingtw.jpg

http://i1316.photobucket.com/albums/...psq9ur0lct.jpg

it will make a bit of a mess but being able to get some lubricant on the end of the starter will be worth it

Wow!!!! Gear is rusted right to the shaft / bendix. Did you figure out where the water came from or how it got in there so much? Drain hole +1, but I would still try and figure out why.

Thank you for keeping us updated

the water came in during 1 trip coming back in some rough water every 15 or so min the nose would just catch the top of the wave and a slug of water would come over the dash onto the floor then drain into the bilge as its designed i would pump it out but with the size of the waves it would slosh around and touch the flywheel. im guessing with the heat on the starter while running that wouldnt take long. I experinced the problems when i got home and was flushing the engines at the end of the trip so im confident it happened then. Im wondering too if the shield is missing from the bottoms of the bellhousing

That hole is no drain its on the side of the starter and will allow me to spray some oil into the end of the starter to keep it lubricated