Looks like the new high torque starter did not fix the grinding noise when starting. I even tried shims and it didn't work. I remember some slight grinding noise before the rebuild, but it seems worse than ever now.

Is it possible to change the fly wheel out without removing the whole engine? I know that I can loosen up the engine mounts and take out the bolt that holds the bell housing in place on the transom plate. Then jack the engine up on one side with a small floor jack.

I had to do this when installing the engine because I had the drive shaft from the Stellings extension box catch on the corner of the flywheel cover.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
shawn

Does your new starter have the same number of teeth on the pinion as the old one?

Bad ring gear can be replaced at many auto machine shops.

In my case easiest way to do that job would be to lift engine with hoist and move forward a foot, then I can remove bell housing and flywheel.

Of course I would have to remove drive first, don't know how it would work with a stellings. Try the easy way first then go from there.

Look for signs of wear inside the bellhousing from a loose coupler bolt etc. Mine had 1 thick washer under a coupler bolt when I bought it, the rubbing noise drove me crazy.

I did it but I had to move the motor forward about 3-6"

How many teeth does the standard mercruiser starter have on it?

I did not think about that one. The previous engine builder had put a high torque starter in place of the old one so I don't know. I just replaced the high torque with another one.

I pulled a coupler out without removing the engine from the boat by pulling the engine forward. The flywheel wouldn't have been much more work. It is a real pain though.

Rene

you can install a new ring gear without even removing the fly wheel from the starter if its the rear mounted starter type. just take an oxy acet torch and heat the ring gear til it glows red and tap it with a hammer it will fall right off, heat the new gear red hot and drop it onto the flywheel and tap it once or twice to seat it, work fast when installing the new gear as it will cool quickly. good luck , rm

Its mounted the old style in two holes on the lower side of the engine. I can pull the starter without any big issues. I did some rewiring so all I have the starter wire and the ignition wire on it now.

I was hoping just to jack the engine up on one side and slide the fly wheel cover out of the way to get to the fly wheel bolts. From the board it doesn't sound like I'm going to be able to do this.

I'll do some further checks this afternoon to see what I come up with.

Thanks for the input guys.

How do you know when a flywheel is bad beside some gringing noise. What other symptoms are there?? Also, does anyone know the ocst of one of these?

Thanks

Flywheel not likely to be bad, ring gear is mounted on outer edge of flywheel and can be changed, less than $50 installed on flywheel, it is important to get it on straight, you can change on motor like RatMan said if you know what you are doing.

I just bought a new 168 tooth ring gear yesterday. It cost me $60 and change, from chevy dealer. PART# 460583. The list price is around $77.
On another note........ I have heard more than a few times that when changing to the high torque starter, there were issues with getting them shimmed correctly. I have found that that task is better done on a test stand, where you can blue the teeth to check the contact points between the starter and the ring gear. Not a quick fix at all! .02 Good luck.....