Broken Starter Bell Housing

Hi everyone,

I have taken on the task of getting my grandpa's 1978 Ski Nautique back in the water this year after 2 years sitting on the trailer.

After de-winterizing, cleaning it up, and filling it up with fresh gas, I tried to start it. The engine made an awful grinding sound when it turned over. I figured the starter wasn't fully engaging so I decided to take the whole starter off to test it on my work bench.

When I took it off, I found that the entire bell housing on the end of the starter had cracked off (see attached picture). I looked in the flywheel housing and didn't see any chunks of aluminum, only a small amount of aluminum shavings (see other attached picture).

I'm assuming I need to take the flywheel housing apart and clean it out. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any advice?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jkutil18 wrote:

This picture says it's an ARCO PMGR starter (you can see the C and O in the casting) so grandpa replaced the original at some time and if you're shopping for a new one another one of those would be a good choice.

The sticker on it probably says 70201 for the part number.

Had it been running previously with this starter?

I'd be trying to figure out why it broke before just slapping a new one in there though.

Were the mounting bolts tight ?

BTW the whole drive end housing can be replaced fairly easily if the rest of the starter is in good shape. Either by you or an auto electric shop.