AQ170 Volvo Penta 6cyl ?? Starter Motor

[Refueler]

Having odd times just solenoid click ... actually more a CLUNK !! than a click ... flick key a few times and she then catches and engine starts ..

I've basically been living with it - idea to sort later at end of season.

Today I had to take spanner to crankshaft to turn it enough for starter motor to disengage ... the CLICK could be heard ...

So question is - Bendix or Constant Mesh ? I think its CM ??

Anyway to lubricate / thunp this without taking off as a temp till end of season ? Its my fault - not using the boat enough. I have similar problem with my SR25 ... but that's a Bendix job - clout with hammer and away you go !!

 

[scottie]

Any possibility that you are getting water in the bell housing?

 

[Refueler]

Any possibility that you are getting water in the bell housing?

Shouldn't be ... bellows changed ... bilge pump keeps any rainwater etc down ....

Its always been a bit lazy from first day I bought the boat.

 

[Refueler]

This evening pal and I went on river for fishing. You guessed ... starter failed when we wanted to go home. Called up another pal with a small mobo ... he'd lifted it sunday - had small hole and engine problems ... called another - only had rowing boat !!

Guy arrived in rowing boat and took me ashore ... idea being to run me home - I would then jump in my other motor boat and tow the stricken boat home ...
When I stepped out of dinghy -phone rang ... pal on board had managed to get starter to turn ... engine was running !!

Home - tied up - will remove starter and have it serviced .....

 

[mil1194]

This evening pal and I went on river for fishing. You guessed ... starter failed when we wanted to go home. Called up another pal with a small mobo ... he'd lifted it sunday - had small hole and engine problems ... called another - only had rowing boat !!

Guy arrived in rowing boat and took me ashore ... idea being to run me home - I would then jump in my other motor boat and tow the stricken boat home ...
When I stepped out of dinghy -phone rang ... pal on board had managed to get starter to turn ... engine was running !!

Home - tied up - will remove starter and have it serviced .....

You know it makes sense.

 

[Refueler]

Looking online - price of replacement starter with solenoid is not much more than service costs of the old.

Have guy coming tomorrow to remove starter and we'll see then.

I'd do the job myself - but with back problems and short arms - trying to get to back of engine bay etc - I would pay a price for days after !



We have a workshop in the Port area that recons alternators and starter motors ...

 

[Refueler]

Starter motor removed ... while doing it - found top mounting bolt loose ... and the 'white' wire in photo above - connecting tab broken ... so now need to find out where it connects when starter comes back from service ... as you see in photo - its underneath and out of eyeline !!

 

[BroomKindaGuy]

Hey, I’ve had a similar issue with my boat’s starter before. If you’re hearing a clunk, it’s probably the Bendix drive sticking. For a quick fix, you could try spraying some penetrating oil on it and see if that helps. I’ve also tapped the starter lightly with a hammer in the past, which sometimes helps loosen things up. Just be gentle to avoid any damage. For a proper fix, though, you’ll need to pull it apart and check it out.

 

[Refueler]

Hey, I’ve had a similar issue with my boat’s starter before. If you’re hearing a clunk, it’s probably the Bendix drive sticking. For a quick fix, you could try spraying some penetrating oil on it and see if that helps. I’ve also tapped the starter lightly with a hammer in the past, which sometimes helps loosen things up. Just be gentle to avoid any damage. For a proper fix, though, you’ll need to pull it apart and check it out.

When turning engine by hand (needs serious spanner on crank) - you could hear the starter cog click as it came free of flywheel. But you could then hit start and it would CLUNK and nothing ..

Seems that starter couldn't turn engine even when cog disengaged ... you could hit start 10 - 15x and then suddenly one time it would turn and start.
Appears that starter motor itself may be shot ...

Will find out tonight as its in service now.

Oh and its not Bendix style ... NEW Starter Motor Volvo Penta AQ115 AQ125 AQ130 AQ131 AQ140 AQ145 AQ151 AQ170 AQ171

 

[Refueler]

OK - word from service guy .... it appears that the starter has had a repair before - rather amateur repair. Unfortunately wife was translating from guy on the phone and could not explain what repair ..... but he reckons he can repair it.

But to be honest - not surprised .... when waiting for guy to arrive at boat - I prepared for him, removing cockpit floor etc. I decided to have a look and see if I could remove it ... top mounting bolt was loose ..... mmmmmm so someone has had this off before !!

 

[PaulRainbow]

That's a pre-engaged starter motor. If it engages the drive but doesn't spin the motor it's usually the contacts in the solenoid, these are on the inside ends of the cable mounting studs and are shorted together by a plate when the solenoid piston reaches the end of its travel.

 

[Refueler]

That's a pre-engaged starter motor. If it engages the drive but doesn't spin the motor it's usually the contacts in the solenoid, these are on the inside ends of the cable mounting studs and are shorted together by a plate when the solenoid piston reaches the end of its travel.

The solenoid it is ... this one has it sitting bolted to starter on top .... evidence of soldering and work on it ....

Guy is replacing that - waiting for part - should be refitted monday.

 

[stelican]

Volvo Penta once offered a high performance option of this engine which included a much slimmer sterndrive (maybe just the lower unit)
The tech. detail of this combination was written up in a publication by Keith Beardlow.
unfortunately I cannot locate the book.

 

[Refueler]

Volvo Penta once offered a high performance option of this engine which included a much slimmer sterndrive (maybe just the lower unit)
The tech. detail of this combination was written up in a publication by Keith Beardlow.
unfortunately I cannot locate the book.

Its interesting when you look at the car (164 B30) .... they did not have a 170HP ... not according to lists I've seen ... they had derated 130HP and full rated 160HP ...

Why they bothered with a 130HP when the 144 B20 were 4 cyl 130HP anyway ..

 

[billskip]

Oh and its not Bendix style

Bendix is I believe the name of the man that designed the inertia throw out of the toothed 'dog' that engages with the flywheel ring gear.

Most people refer to the small toothed "gear wheel" "dog" as the Bendix and this of course allows familiarity in discussions.

The attitude of most with starter motors is it works therefore getting little preventative maintenance attention...until it doesn't...with boats this can become embarrassing because they are unknown to have bump start facilities.

It is inadvisable to spray with lubricant or grease and should always be clean and dry, the reason being theat lubricant/grease will collect dirt and prevent correct operation.

 

[billskip]

Looking online - price of replacement starter with solenoid is not much more than service costs of the old.

Be careful with this, old style starter motors were direct drive and were heavily built needing service attention to bearings and carbon brushes......new replacement ones can be made much lighter and the use of much less material.
Particular caution imho should me made to the new design as it may be fitted with a (plastic gears) gearbox which adds another area of service/problems ....

 

[Refueler]

Bendix is I believe the name of the man that designed the inertia throw out of the toothed 'dog' that engages with the flywheel ring gear.

Most people refer to the small toothed "gear wheel" "dog" as the Bendix and this of course allows familiarity in discussions.

The attitude of most with starter motors is it works therefore getting little preventative maintenance attention...until it doesn't...with boats this can become embarrassing because they are unknown to have bump start facilities.

It is inadvisable to spray with lubricant or grease and should always be clean and dry, the reason being theat lubricant/grease will collect dirt and prevent correct operation.

Old ships saying :

If it moves - oil it

If it doesn't move either grease it or paint it.

 

[Refueler]

On Superanne - the Perkins has the older Bendix starter ... and she suffers from not enough use ... cog fails to run out and engage sometimes ... needs a bit of a whack and then away we go ..

Few years back .. maybe 4 - 5yrs ... I took it off and gave to local workshop to fix. The starter on the 4-107 is not chaep !! And not so many people selling. Plus of course living in Latvia did not help on that !

Workshop found :

The spiral on the shaft had a piece missing and generally worn. They welded and then ground back - recreated the spiral.
The two springs were old and weak ... both replaced.
Stator was worn ... they fixed that .. but how ????

All I know is that 100 euros later - I had a starter that was working better than it ever did !!

 

[DavidJ]

On Superanne - the Perkins has the older Bendix starter ... and she suffers from not enough use ... cog fails to run out and engage sometimes ... needs a bit of a whack and then away we go ..

Few years back .. maybe 4 - 5yrs ... I took it off and gave to local workshop to fix. The starter on the 4-107 is not chaep !! And not so many people selling. Plus of course living in Latvia did not help on that !

Workshop found :

The spiral on the shaft had a piece missing and generally worn. They welded and then ground back - recreated the spiral.
The two springs were old and weak ... both replaced.
Stator was worn ... they fixed that .. but how ????

All I know is that 100 euros later - I had a starter that was working better than it ever did !!

Having spent the first decade of my career as a production engineer in a starter motor factory, that mend is seriously impressive
Not sure what the worn stator is but good job nevertheless
To show my age both bendix and pre-engaged machines were produced

 

[Refueler]

Having spent the first decade of my career as a production engineer in a starter motor factory, that mend is seriously impressive
Not sure what the worn stator is but good job nevertheless
To show my age both bendix and pre-engaged machines were produced

When guy first mentioned the bit missing from the spiral - I thought "SH**" .... here goes 400 notes on replacement ... then he handed me the starter ... WOW !

That repair was about 8 or 9yrs ago .. and still as good as day they did it.

The guy who actually did the repair was Russian Old School .... never bin what you can repair. The sort of repairs these old guys did and still do - are amazing ....
As example I've seen them rebuild shafts from worn out scrap - to shiny perfect specimens ...