Mercuriser Starter Motor

[LarrysBoat]

New to this forum, looking for feedback on recent issue I had with the starter motor on my 135hp Alpha 1 unit.

The mounting bolt to the started motor sheared off, dropping the starter motor to the deck. It seems that there is only one mounting bolt which is accessed from under the engine.

Repair shop is telling me they need to pull the engine to be able to drill out what remains of the bolt and then re-install, they're saying this will take about 12 hours >$1,000

1st - is this a common issue with these engines?

2nd - if you have had this problem, was the solution above the only way to fix?

thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Mercuriser Starter Motor

1st - is this a common issue with these engines?

It's common if someone tightens the bolt so much that it breaks off!

The only way I could fix it would be to drill out the old bolt and use an "easy-out" to remove it. Then depending on how damaged the threads are, I might have to drill the hole larger and re-tap or drill larger and install Helicoils

To do this I would need to have the engine out and on an engine stand so I could rotate it upside down to easily get to the hole.

removal and replacement of the engine might be 3 or 4 hours (maybe a little more) and maybe a couple of hours to do the thread repair. (drill out the old bolt, re-tap/helicoil installation)

A lot of places get $100 per hour for labor (go check out your Chevy dealer hourly rates.....the one that's going out of business!)


I don't know how you'd do it with the engine in the boat unless you turn the boat upside-down and use a sawzall to cut a hole in the bottom of the boat to expose the bottom of the engine....then of course there'd be the labor of repairing the bottom of the boat.....


Sorry about that


Rick

 

[LarrysBoat]

Re: Mercuriser Starter Motor

thanks for the reply, your estimate of hours to pull the engine, extract the bolt and the re-install sounds more reasonable than what I was quoted. Concern is what kind of strain was put on the bolt that made it shear. I was in process of starting the engine while out on the lake. Made a noise that "sounded expensive".