115 Johnson---Cause of a problem?

[GatorMike]

My son just called me from Mosquito Lagoon, he borrowed my boat this morning and he said he is about a mile from the ramp with a problem. He said the top 2 bolts on the starter are broke off. I'm not mad at him for breaking my motor, just curious if anybody has ever seen this before? I'm more concerned whit what happened so when I fix it I am not going to have the same thing happen again. I'm thinking maybe the starter engaged with the motor running wide open or maybe it was just that something was mis aligned.<br /><br />A little backgronud on the motor. It is a 98 crossflow V4 that I just rebuilt and it has about 10 hrs on it. It runs great and has had no starting problems since rebuild. When I rebuilt the powerhead I noticed something a little funny, the starter bolts were quite loose and you could wiggle the starter. The bolts were in good shape with no wear or rust and they went in and tightened just fine. If anybody has seen this happen before and has any suggestions or possible causes I would apreciate it. Just don't want to fix it and have it happen again. Thanks.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: 115 Johnson---Cause of a problem?

By the way I don't want anybody to think I am the kind of guy that would just leave my son stranded. I told him just before I posted this to try to hand crank the motor and if he has a problem I would go get his johnboat and go get him. He just called back and said it hand cranked ok. As a matter of fact he informed me he is going to go ahead and fish the rest of the morning near the ramp. Once again any suggestions on a cause of the problem would be apreciated.

 

[tvpear12]

Re: 115 Johnson---Cause of a problem?

more than likely the bolts vibrated loose, at which point broke off when he tried to start it. these starters have alot of torque and if bolts are not tight they will break. hope this helps. try lock tight on the bolts this time.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 115 Johnson---Cause of a problem?

yep gotta loc-tite them. I use gel seal on the bolt threads. if the threads are damaged then heli-coil them. its a common deal with those engines.<br /> good luck and keep posting

 

[GatorMike]

Re: 115 Johnson---Cause of a problem?

Ok looks like you guys were right, now I am looking for a little screw extraction advise. I got the bolt out from the side of the starter and it was quite loose. I was able to drill a hole and extract it with an easy out. It was so loose I didn't even have to use a tap handle to turn the easy out just used my fingers. The bolt from the front side is being a bear though. I've tried both regular and titanium drill bits and can't seem to get a hole started in that bolt. I't is broke off about 1/2 inch inside the bolt hole making things even tougher. Is there any kind of bit that will drill a hole in a super hard bolt?