Flywheel teeth worn off

[waterlog]

I have a 1995 Response and was haing trouble with the starter engaging. When I pulled off the starter I noticed that each tooth on the starter was missing about 2/3rds of the front metal. Has anyone experienced this or have an idea of what may have caused it. Also does anyone have a good source on where to obtain a new flywheel.

Thanks

[XTI04]

The most likley cause is turning the key with the engine running. Check the flywheel and makesure it needs to be replaced - sometimes you get lucky and the damage may not be too bad. If you do need a flywheel check out http://www.skidim.com/

[nuttyskier2002]

I have a 1995 Response and was haing trouble with the starter engaging. When I pulled off the starter I noticed that each tooth on the starter was missing about 2/3rds of the front metal. Has anyone experienced this or have an idea of what may have caused it. Also does anyone have a good source on where to obtain a new flywheel.

Thanks

A few questions: 1) are you the original owner of the boat? 2) If so,... have you replaced the starter motor in the past? In other words is this the original starter?

3) If you are not the original owner,... do you know who is and if they have replaced the starter?

What I'm getting at here is,... the base engine is supplied by Chevrolet. Chevy starters, that are bolted to the starter pad on the block, often times require shimming. The shims when installed adjust the mesh of the gears. If this is not done (or not done properly) the teeth on the flywheel and starter wear very quickly. Sometimes when not shimmed properly the mesh will be so far out that the gears make an awful whizzzzzzing sound while cranking. If the gears on the starter are as bad as you describe, you can bet there is damage to the flywheel gear as well.

[waterlog]

A few questions: 1) are you the original owner of the boat? 2) If so,... have you replaced the starter motor in the past? In other words is this the original starter?

3) If you are not the original owner,... do you know who is and if they have replaced the starter?

What I'm getting at here is,... the base engine is supplied by Chevrolet. Chevy starters, that are bolted to the starter pad on the block, often times require shimming. The shims when installed adjust the mesh of the gears. If this is not done (or not done properly) the teeth on the flywheel and starter wear very quickly. Sometimes when not shimmed properly the mesh will be so far out that the gears make an awful whizzzzzzing sound while cranking. If the gears on the starter are as bad as you describe, you can bet there is damage to the flywheel gear as well.

No I am not the original owner and I did replace the starter, because it started whirring and not engaging. I heard about shims, but I do not believe that they were on the starter that I pulled off. As you mentioned, I thought the shims were used for aligning the gears on the starter properly when they engaged the flywheel. Uo to this point, I did not hear any unusual noises when starting for several years, until a couple of weeks ago. As I mentioned it looks like 2/3rds of the teeth are missing toward the flywheel, which is probably where the starter gear makes the contact. The starter I pulled off was made by ARCO.

I don't have the equipmnet to pull the engine, so I am trying to change the flywheel without pulling the engine. The best I can do is loosen the front and remove the back engine mounts and lift the engine up from the rear to remove the transmission. Only trouble is the driveshaft coupling hits the floorboard, so it looks like I would have to remove about 1 inch of floorboard to clear it. This should not be a problem since the engine cowel would still cover this area.