68 Johnson 55HP - Starter Pinion Will Not Stay Engaged with Flywheel

hulvdog

Recruit
Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
5
As the title says, I tried starting the motor today, starter spins up nicely. Pinion gear ramps up to enagage the flywheel, then immediately drops out without rotating the flywheel (starter still spins).

If I manually place the pinion gear in mesh with the flywheel, then do a start, the flywheel rotates and the engine starts.

What is causing the pinion gear to fall before it fully engages with the flywheel, and do an engine start?
 

Joe Reeves

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
13,262
Re: 68 Johnson 55HP - Starter Pinion Will Not Stay Engaged with Flywheel

Inspect the flywheel teeth, the underside portion of the teeth. a worn bendix gear will (in time) cause the bottom area of the flywheel teeth to wear.

A new bendix gear cures this problem sometimes, if the flywheel teeth aren't worn too bad.
 

rbj

Recruit
Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
3
Re: 68 Johnson 55HP - Starter Pinion Will Not Stay Engaged with Flywheel

Make sure you have good, clean connections on you battery cables. A weak battery or bad connections can cause this problem.
 
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