1991 Mercury 40 HP Outboard - Starter turning backwards.

lmuss53

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
1,227
11. something volts, is the battery too low to kick the bendix up?

I'll go back to a while ago where I talked about a shot of PB Blaster and a 5 minute wait.
 
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Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
11
"Continuity check from positive terminal to red starter motor connection on motor 0.....to motor ground infinity. Same check from negative terminal to motor ground 0......positive terminal infinity."

Well that suggests that the cabling is fine and hasn't been tampered with. And your 'positive' voltage reading from the battery terminals suggests that the battery hasn't had a weird polarity reversal either (My neighb once recharged a completely dead car battery the wrong way and completely fried his new (2nd hand) car's electronics when he connected it up. Priceless expression on his face - and I don't remind him of it. Honestly...)

So what does that leave? I guess only that the starter motor itself has had a gender change.

I guess one last 'meter' test could confirm the tests you've already done - connect the red and black meter probes to the starter motor the correct way, and see that there's a 'positive' voltage going there when you crank the key.

If the motor has somehow reversed polarity, I'm completely stumped as to how that could have happened.

(How to post photos: click on the 'A' icon (top right) to open the 'advanced editor' menu. In one of the appearing boxes you'll see 4 symbols; a chain link, a ditto with an 'x', a photo of a mountain profile - stop there, that's the one you want... Click on 'Upload' to search your PC for photos. I think there's a size limit - is it 400k? Quite small. So try setting your camera's resolution to perhaps 1 or 2 M and check that the resulting photos are less than 400k. Or you can use various software to reduce photo sizes. Or you can try 'cropping' your photos to show detail, and this will also reduce the file size a large amount.)
 
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Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
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????---You say the starter is turning---COUNTERCLOCKWISE-------Well that is correct for turning / starting the motor running in the ---CLOCKWISE----direction.---Please review what you have written and understand on this situation !!---Please review your understanding of how the bendix rises to engage the flywheel !!----Try this , hold the pinion gear steady.---Now turn the starter armature with a wrench in a counterclockwise direction.----What do you observe ?

Possibly - especially if the bendix is a bit sticky.

Have you tried manually turning the bendix and seeing if it 'screws' up the motor shaft? Ie, that it is loose?

(Man, you'll have egg on your face if that is what the issue was :) )
 

hpnme

Cadet
Joined
Apr 29, 2016
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8
Told you all I was new at this! When I said the starter motor was turning backwards what I was observing was the pinion gear turning counterclockwise and not rising to engage. When I turned it manually, I was actually turning the pinion gear in a clockwise direction and it rose without issue. PB blaster and a 5 minute wait did the trick. Excuse me now while I go wipe the egg off my face. All in all with your help I have learned a lot and will certainly be back for more Thanks!!!
 

StarTed

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
694
and will certainly be back for more Thanks!!!

What do you mean with being back for more? Egg on the face or information? :)

Congratulations on a successful venture. I think we can say we've all been there ---- probably many times. and I hope to live long enough to do some more.

:thumb:
 

CharlieB

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
5,617
Egg on your face, wipe it off with a napkin and move on.

Even us 'Older Guys' have our times. As a Retired lifetime mechanic my lawn mower wouldn't start the other day, only firing on one cyl and dying. I checked spark, fair, spark plugs slightly blackened. I went ahead and changed them both anyway. Still only fired on the front cyl and died. I tried spraying carb cleaner in it while cranking. It occasionally fired both, then only the front and died. I was perplexed.

Until I lifted the gas cap.

D'oh! I KNEW the gauge fuse was blown, I hadn't taken the time to cure that issue. I have since.

So spit happens, forget about it and go enjoy your boat.
 

lmuss53

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
1,227
Don't worry about any egg on your face, wipe it off and go for a boat ride,

I have a 50 hp Mercury here now that someone smeared about a half cup of grease on and around the bendix to try to free it up. I may have to pull the starter off to clean all the gunk off of it to get it to work.
 
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sam am I

Commander
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Jun 26, 2013
Messages
2,169
Personally? I enjoy my eggs over med with a few slices of Dave's killer bread (yellow label)..........toasted. Then of course, I have to dip the toast in the egg and I get egg on my toast too!!
 
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