1993 johnson 150 starter wont engage flywheel

[alumacraftmvtek]

Ok just a little history I have cleaned all my connections I have new cables from battery to motor. I have taken flywheel cover off and taken the gear off top of starter(bendix I think its called) I have cleaned it. It was a bit dirty. I cleaned it with parts cleaner thoroughly I have oiled it with 3 n 1 oil made sure battery was charged fully . After all this start would still not engage flywheel so I took dust cover off and manually twisted gear up to flywheel. Engine started fine multiple times. Let engine set for 1 hour and try to start again and I have the same old problem. My question is does anyone think the bendix needs to be replaced? I did notice some wear on the bendix gear

[boobie]

Sounds like your starter mtr isn't spinning fast enough to throw the bendix up into the flywheel. Have you had the battery load tested??

[alumacraftmvtek]

No I was gonna take battery with me and have that checked tommorrow. When they load test it am I looking for a certain voltage or just making sure my cold crank amps are a certain amount? Never had a battery load tested and sometimes I know places like advanced auto clerks are not the most knowledgeable people

[boobie]

Do you have any auto-electric shops in your area ? They usually have the best equipment. If not, maybe NAPA.

[alumacraftmvtek]

I will try the napa store thanks

[alumacraftmvtek]

Ok battery load test checked fine 558 cca and the battery is only rated on the sticker at 500 cca I even went as far as borrowing a new battery out of my friends boat so now I am at a loss I don't know where to go from here. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

[Keith13]

If you have a volt meter check the voltage at the starter connections while the start button is being pressed to see what voltage is arriving to the starter. That way you will check all of the connections plus the wire.

I remember a simular problem on a friends old Buick and the problem turned out to be a bad ground cable. It would deliver 12 volts as long no high current was called for but when the starter switch energized the voltage fell like crazy due to a bad cable.

Good Luck, Keith

[stic88]

Try using wd 40 on the shaft where the gear slides up,work gear manually multiple times. Two or three applications may be necessary

[Aquaman-PSD]

may not be helpful but this exact thing happened to me on my 93 johnson 200, practically same motor. Starter would spin freely but not pick up to engage the flywheel. Tried a lot of things but couldn't get it to come up. We ended up jumping it from my other two batteries and it came up. Sounds like you have plenty of charge but I figured i would let you know my experience and state the obvious.

[alumacraftmvtek]

So I took the dust cover off the flywheel again tonight and took the whole bendix assembly out again after really cleaning and oiling really good I noticed the bendix gear was sticking really bad at the bottom so I was able to get it apart and noticed there is a rubber washer molded inside of it. I guess over time and use it had gotten hard.I guess after it would finally start the flywheel would spin it back down so quick that rubber would stick it to the bottom. Piling would make it somewhat better for a while then just go back to.sticking again. I was able to take a sanding wheel on a dremel and remove some of the old washer oiled it back up put it back in and it starts like a champ every time. Thanks for everyones help and i hope this may help someone else also.