Starter or Ring Gear headache?!!!
 

Well guys, took my Baja Hammer 350ci out this weekend. Cruising away from the dock in the channel and accidentally disconnected my kill switch. Obviously the boat fell on its face and I had traffic rushing up behind. The motor dieseled & chugged a couple times and while it coughed, I hit the ignition:mad:. Well needless to say it didnt sound happy, grinding and making a racket. After it died and I started it back up it ran perfect...heard it grind slightly a couple times later in the day when starting it. Got it home and went to flush motor.....well it grinds like a mad man! motor is not turning over either. Sounds like teeth missing from ring gear???....I havent had time to pull the starter as the bolts were rusty so its being sprayed with PB BLaster every day this week in hopes the bolts come out smooth. Looking for any good news in the bad news Im sure to hear in replies (i know "Hey JLBSPD, only good news is youll have a new ring gear! LOL)!:rolleyes:

Also if it does end up being the ring gear and having to unbolt and shift the motor forword to remove the flywheel, anything else you guys would check / address / routine maint. while the motor is unbolted? I only have a cherry picker so removing the motor entirely is out of question right now. The boat is a 2001 Baja Hammer 350ci Alpha drive.

Put in a new starter if you put the ring gear in just because .

fixx
 

rotare the engine by hand first,5/8 socket and a braker bar on the crank bolt..rotate a litttle and then try the starter,if it cranks the you know your missing teeth on the flywheel.

Good call fixx.....sometimes ya get so pis#ed when things happen you forget the simple diagnosing technics..

pull the starter out and inspect the ring gear

fixx
 

if it turns over and if teeth are missing you will hear a skipping in the cranking pattern,,kinda like a clicking..

Ok..sorry for the late update...I rotated the crank a bit and every time it comes to one spot, it grinds and stops rotating...deff sign that teeth are missing!:(
So ive torn down all the accessories from the front of the motor in order to gain more room to jockey it around & pull the motor out of the boat. Because I have no "professional way" of pulling the motor, Ill be using an electric engine winch, chain and as the saying may go "you might me a redneck if you have a motor hanging from a tree in your yard"...well thats what Im going to do:coolcowboy:

These are my plans when I get the motor out... its a 2001 350ci 260hp carb motor mated to a alpha one. Because I dont know the exact hours, I plan on replacing the exhaust manifold & elbow gaskets, intake silicone and gasket (seems to be leaking along the front edge where its siliconed)....maybe just buy a whole basic gasket kit and replace what I can easily get to while its out. Suggestions?
Also....there is alot of heavy rust around the feet of the block where it bolts to motor mounts, misc spots all about and some starting on manifolds and accessory brackets. What is the best way to address this and the best way to paint it to help slow rust down and what kind of paint to use for motor & for exhaust...The orig. owner i dont believe washed it down much... out of sight out of mind for him I bet.
I attempted to locate the serial numbers for this motor but I dont see the plate by the starter and its faded away on the carb cover. The block is stamped 880 which I believe indicates 350ci which I know this...but how can I be sure the gaskets and any otherr parts I buy are going to be correct without the serial number?
Im also going to replace the starter (it has a Arco 30470 on it now) and the alternator (not sure what it has but I believe its only 65amp rated). The manifolds say 807988-C.
I need to order the parts asap so I can get it out on the water SOON! Kids and wife are begging me! not a bad thing is it lol I just dont want to get caught in the parts being sent back and forth to get the right stuff....

Also thought of dressing up the motor a bit, scraping the factory arrestor plastic cover and doing something a bit nicer on the cheap....any suggestions on some decent cheap dress up parts that will hold up to salt enviroment....im maticulous for cleaning so I wont be like previous owner and forget to wash it down lol

side note: Weird....i hate cleaning...hate cleaning anything lol...I clean dont get me wrong and Im kind of a neat freak...but...when it comes to my boat, i love cleaning :eekdrop:

bump

i have picked motor up with a 30 buck come-along hung from cherry picker. find a couple of small pallets and stack them under engine. drop cherry picker down to motor and lift again with cherry picker. can get it out this way. at least without heads you can. pull the pan. check rod and main bearings and obviously journals. HV oil pump.

i use fel pro automotive gaskets throughout. any chevy pick up same year as your block.

fixx
 

fore the rust,,a wire wheel usually works good then apply some epoxy primer over it then paint it...use fel pro performance gaskets,the car ones have steel in them and will rust out..the performance ones are paper and wont rust..

Thanks for the tips.....anyone know how to identify the motor for ordering parts? like i said theres no vin# tag by starter and serial # on carb cover is faded away. Its a 2001 350 carb motor.

fixx
 

if theirs 8 bolts holding on the intake then its a vortec engine..
you want to use felpro # ms98000t..thease are the updated gaskets that are rubber incased and not the plastic ones that brake..
if theirs 12 intake bolts you want to use felpro 17320

for the starter ring,your local napa will have it,order one for a 2001 chevy truck with a stick shift trans,,168 tooth..their around 35 bucks..once you get the flywheel off set one side of the flywheel about a inch off the work bench and the other side on the bench,take a hammer and a punch and knock off rthe starter ring..take the flywheem and put it in the freezer over night,,when you get the new starter ring put on a set of gloves,take a map torch and warm up the ring in a circle motion until its really hot,,take the flywheel out of the freezer and set it upside down on the work bench..whith the starter ring being still hot set it on the flywheel and take a brass punch and knock ot down until the ring stops on the machined lip of the flywheel and let it cool off for a few hours..once its cooled off then you can reinstall it,,apply loctight to the flywheel bolts and torque them to 60 ft lba...no more then 60 ftlbs or you will distort the serface of the crankshaft where the rear main seal rides and it will leak.

ir you have a 8 bolt intake manifold you will need to add blue loctight paste to the bolts because they have such a low torque rating (12-14 ft lbs) they have a tendency of coming loose..also dont just torque them once keep going ovet the bolts until they are all the same torque..