Starter bendix won't disengage

Hey this is a 5 month old starter from Skidim for a 351W. Probably has 100-150 hours on the engine since it was installed. The starter turns strong and starts the engine without any problems. However, once started, there is a horrible clanking noise that I believe is the bendix hitting the flywheel.

I pulled the starter and lubed up the bendix gear. It moves smoothly until it's in the starter housing though and then it doesn't like to go back down. I put it back in the boat and nothing changed. I cranked it up and tried to pull the small wire that activates the solenoid but nothing happened.

A little background that may help... The alternator randomly quit about 2 weeks ago and killed the battery. I recharged the battery and it continued to work fine. The day the problem started, I pulled the front bowl on the carb to change the power valve. Didn't seat an o-ring properly and fuel was gushing out so I shut it down quickly but I don't remember the starter issue then (could've overlooked it due to fuel spraying though). Anyway, fixed the fuel issue and hosed down the engine and bilge. Took a little work to get it started again but I never held the starter for more than about 10 seconds and when it started, the clanking noise was there.

It's hard to tell if the starter is still powered and spinning or whether the bendix is stuck out. I guess I can check the voltage on the starter...can't believe I didn't think of that earlier.

If there is voltage, I'll bang on the relay and see what happens.

Engine fires right up and no voltage to the starter once I let off the key. Gotta be a solenoid or bendix problem unless it has nothing to do with the starter completely. Trying to get my hands on a friends old starter since I was dumb and sold my old starter to a friend who killed his.

Ok so this starter has no bendix return spring. Instead it used the solenoid to actuate a plastic lever which pushes and pulls the bendix. I disassembled my starter again today and realized it had popped out of that plastic lever originally. I didn't put it back in because it looked like it was designed to self seat but this is not the case. After putting the lever on the bendix properly, it works fine and the bendix retracts appropriately.

No idea how or why it came out in the first place but it's fixed for now.