I run a 99 25 Outlaw with a 454 MPI all stock. I go through starters like candy. I am moving on to my 3rd one in 2 years. Anybody have any suggestions?

Do you trailer the boat? Pull the plug after each run? Water sloshing in the bilge? I went through a couple also and each time was due to water getting on the starter and killing the solenoid mounted on the side of the starter. I had the problems on my single bbc scarab. Dammed things are a ***** to get at, praying I don't lose one now that I'm running twins. Did you have the starters looked at to see what went wrong with them? I took mine to a little shop that rebuilds starters and alternators, they were able to bench test it and determine problem in about 5 minutes.

Good luck!

Excellent response from East Coast B... water will kill them fairly quickly. Gets corroded in there, especially the motor casing, then takes a lot of current to turn them over! Makes you start looking at the batteries when the real issue is the starter. Easy to check with a current probe...

Would similar issue cause start to drag?

How do you use a "probe"? Or really what is one?

When it dies do you know what it is that is dead? Like is the gear all whiped out? When you get a new one does it turn over slow? You may have a bad battery cable on either the ground or power.

Jon

When it dies, it clicks. Tap the solonoid first start of the day, and it's good the rest of the day. This time, it just whined like it was not engaging the flywheel. When you put a new one on, it cranks no issues.