I have a 1985 Sea Ray Seville with a 3.0 liter 140 hp Mercruiser engine. I recently changed a bad starter (original) with a new gear reduction starter. When I tested it on the engine while it was out of the boat on an engine stand it worked like a champ. As soon as I put the engine back in the boat my problems began. It cranked the engine briefly and then started making a whining sound. I immediately stopped trying and began scratching my head. Here are the steps I have taken in the last 3 days: I tested my batteries (12.5v), wiring, and connections(good). Can cranking amps be an issue as I have no way of testing that (the batteries are more than 5 years old and I believe one of them is shot.).Lifted the engine while in boat, removed bell housing exposing flywheel and starter. I tried cranking again, same thing. I did notice the starter drive gear was not retracting from flywheel, or does that only retract after the engine has started? Put a socket on flywheel nut and gave a slight turn and the drive gear retracted. Bought a shim pack and started with the smallest one. Problem still there. Tried every possible shim configuration and still nothing. The gears seem to mesh properly with the flywheel, just not retracting. It is not binding in any way and it almost seems like the starter stops engaging the drive gear and just whines. I removed the starter completely to bench test it and it works perfectly. I was thinking there may be water in one of my cylinders causing what I believe is called a lockout or engine lock. I removed all my plugs and tried cranking and still nothing. Could I have blown this starter? Like I said earlier, it performed well on the bench test but once in the boat it just whines like my 6 year old kid, maybe worse. Any suggestions on what else I can check would be immensely appreciated as these boards have saved my butt on numerous occassions and I want to keep the streak going. Thanks in advance. Scott
