found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

[jamesbus]

Hi there,

I recently purchased a 2004 Stingray 190LS with a 3.0 Mercruiser Alpha One from a marina that does rentals. The boat itself has about 1100 hours on it, with the motor having been replaced about 400 hours ago. I have only had the boat for a week and have put about 2 hours on it. I was checking the engine over out on the water and found the bolt below sitting in the bilge. The boat seems to be running fine, and I thought perhaps it was just something that the marina had forgotten to pick up the last time they did some service on it and I had just not seen it when inspecting the boat on purchase.

At first glance the texture at the bottom of the bolt led me to believe that it had some sort of filtering function because it appeared porous. When I got home and cleaned it up, though, it appears that the texture was there to hold some sort of lubrication in place. It's also apparent that what I've found is a BROKEN bolt, with the threads having been left in place somewhere. Can anyone tell me where this bolt is supposed to go? I have to let the marina know ASAP!

 

[Don S]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

That's a starter bolt. DO NOT try to start the engine again.

The threaded part is still in the block.

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Thanks for the help- what does it do??? How do u fix it??

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Thanks for the help- what does it do??? How do u fix it??

The knurl on the bolt shaft is a dead giveaway, they are the only bolts with it. There are 2 holding the starter to the block. It may be from the previous engine, but I would be checking that you still DO have both on the starter BEFORE starting the engine again.

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

I did have some trouble starting the engine the day that this happened but i just chalked that up to the motor being cold. I have been reading about something called "hydro lock" that is caused by engine dieseling. The engine did diesel once or twice for a moment or two when turning it off the time before the trouble starting incident and my subsequent discovery of this bolt.

Is the answer here to simply get a new starter bolt? if so, will this happen again? What could help prevent this in the future?

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

by moment or two i mean a SECOND or two...

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Getting the starter bolt is the easy part, it's removing the other half of that broken one that is going to be tough.

 

[Failproof]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Threaded piece of bolt will need to be removed from block. New PROPER bolts will be needed. Starter or block my already be damaged. Carefully check it all over! Could have been from a gorilla streching the bolt when installing the starter.

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

alrighty- so as you might suspect the relief of knowing what the bolt is from and how to fix it doesnt quite make up for the jolt of panic that's set in from the realization that the boat i just bought has already got an issue after less than 2 hours of run time...awesome....

So i went out to the boat, went feeling around under the starter, and sure enough there was a void where the bolt in my hand should be. I also noticed that some sort of mounting bracket at the far end of the starter (at the end of the solenoid? i believe) that bolts directly to the block was cracked into two pieces. What's interesting about the cracked mounting bracket piece is that it shows signs of rust at the break, which could not have happened in the 24 hours since the incident occurred.

The starter that i Have is "SAE J1171", which results tells me is the most common starter for the 3.0 application. Will buying a new starter supply me with the bolts I need and the metal mounting bracket? Or do I need to purchase those separately? The starter seems to be intact. I know that I started the boat a few times after I found this bolt with no issues but I am going to chalk that up to EXTREMELY good luck...not something I am going to test again.

 

[Grub54891]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

I'd take it back to the marina and make them fix it right!,If it's deiseling it will only get worse! I've seen waht happens when hydrolocked,you are lucky it was only the starter, just replaced an entire engine in one that same thing happed to.
Grub

 

[Fun Times]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

The SAE J1171 is not your starter part number, It just means it's a marine starter. Here should be your starter parts,
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show...82.png&inbr=11669&bnbr=10&bdesc=Starter+Motor

We'll need your engine serial number to confirm the starter part number though.

You will need to buy new bolts and a bracket.

But first you need to remove the starter from the engine, Then using a mirror look at the engine block where the two starter bolts go and check the engine block screw holes for any crack lines or damage. Then look to see where the rest of the bolt is up in the hole so you know what's coming next. You may need to pull the engine out for any of these repairs.

Sorry to hear of this problem you're having, Good luck to you with it.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Call the marina ASAP and tell them your poblem.....

You are not seeing the whole picture here. The rest of the bolt is broke off inside the block and needs to be removed before you can install a new bolt.

It might come right out or it could be a bear....The thing is you have to drill a hole in the center of the bolt to allow for an easy- out to remove it. Depending on the room you have this will be a tough operation.


Thats why i say talk to the marina that you bought it from and see if they will cover it.

Good luck!

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Thanks to everyone for the help and input. This is a pretty awful way to start my boat-buying experience, but I guess that's why there's so much lore about the woes about boat ownership.

I've sent an email to the proprietor and will be calling this afternoon. Unfortunately the boat I bought was all the way up in Lake George NY which is a 3.5 hour ride without a boat attached to the back of my vehicle.

I am still very concerned about the cause of this issue, though. Can anyone weigh in with some guidance on why this might have happened? Is this something that might be considered normal wear and tear, just an unfortunate fluke, or is this a symptom of an underlying issue that needs to be resolved. I mentioned the engine dieseling issue that might have led to hydro lock- does that sound correct or should I look for something else?

The broken bracket seems like it may be somewhat of a smoking gun too- could this issue have happened before at which time they replaced the bolts but not the bracket? If there is permanent damage to the block will this keep happening over and over again? If so is the entire engine going to need to be replaced?

 

[Grub54891]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

I'd take it back,We had to put riser extensions on one recently,it would gulp some water in when pulling out of the ramp thus when relaunched it wouds lock up and break thing's,begining with the srarter,and eventually the entire motor. The owner had to pay as it was bought in the lower 48,then try to get his money from the dealer down there.Boating is a fun hobby and you should not have to deal with issues like this being a first time boater.
grub

 

[mxcobra]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Dude all is most likley good the diesaling has nothing to do with the starter thats a whole diferant part and function all together.
you still have one bolt in the starter or the starter would be in the bilge too. stop woring about how it happend al you need to know really is it did so now you have to fix... that is just the way it is!!!!!You can pic up a set of starter bolts at any autoparts strore.
first you need to take the bolt thats still holding starter in out then let starter rest in bilge. then with vise grips, small screw driver, or other toolls get the old piece of bolt out of its home. take bots to store and get new ones... then bolt starter back up. and go. minor easy repair, 99.9 percant chance their is no other problem then a broken bolt. but you better get used to it this is so minor its silly you are going t have mutch bigger problems then this being a boat owner. may I sugjust you get a engine manual and read up..................

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Just a guesstamation...... But the bracket holding the starter is there to aid in helping the starter not flex on the starter hold down bolts... thus shearing off bolts. A starter has alota tourqe and if the bracket was rusted and weak.... maybe when it dieseled it sucked water into the cyclinders and when you tried to start it... you cant compress water... so it put alota force on the starter to turn the motor over and broke the bracket... thus putting strain on the starter bolts and one sheared off.

Or..... someone tightend that bolt way to tight... thus over tourqe... strain on the threaded part .. which is the weakest....and when the bracket broke the starter flexed some and sheared the bolt.

As of now you have a problem... get the starter fixed first then worry about the motor deiseling.

If the marina wont fix this...keep us posted and the gents on here maybe able to get you fixed.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Just a guesstamation...... But the bracket holding the starter is there to aid in helping the starter not flex on the starter hold down bolts... thus shearing off bolts. A starter has alota tourqe and if the bracket was rusted and weak.... maybe when it dieseled it sucked water into the cyclinders and when you tried to start it... you cant compress water... so it put alota force on the starter to turn the motor over and broke the bracket... thus putting strain on the starter bolts and one sheared off.

That's exactly what I would bet happened as well.

Hopefully the marina will make it right.

 

[abrx7]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

That same exact thing happened to me last year. I pulled the motor this spring and had to extract the broken bolt. Chances are you will have to do the same as there is little to no room to get under there.

 

[jamesbus]

Re: found this broken bolt under my mercruiser 3.0 liter...where did it come from?

Hey guys thought I'd give a little update. I heard from the owner of the marina i purchased the boat from first thing this AM and he said they will take care of everything. what a relief! now I just have to drive it up there...