Broken Starter Bell Housing
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Engine Repair
Forum Discription: Engine problems and solutions
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48912
Printed Date: November-27-2024 at 7:03am
Topic: Broken Starter Bell Housing
Posted By: Jkutil18
Subject: Broken Starter Bell Housing
Date Posted: June-22-2020 at 6:13pm
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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!  
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Replies:
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-22-2020 at 10:26pm
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There's a lot of work involved in getting the bellhousing off and no inspection port or anything to make it easy. Since the pieces are most likely at the bottom, I'd fish around with a stiff piece of wire or something like that. Also you can pull the spark plugs and turn the engine with the big bolt that holds the harmonic balancer on. You need a 15/16 socket for that. You might be able to move the chunks over near the starter hole by doing this |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: June-22-2020 at 11:29pm
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. |
Jkutil18 wrote:Posted By: Jkutil18
Date Posted: June-23-2020 at 4:05pm
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Thanks for the advice! I'll try to fish the pieces out and report back. As far as I know, the boat has run with this starter (I have no records of when he bought it and my grandpa's memory is fading). The mounting bolts seemed tight enough to me. I'm assuming someone tried to turn the engine over while it was running. |