Starting issues and a starter motor wiggle (on Yamaha 9.9hp 4 stroke from 1996ish)

[mikeywil]

The outboard on my Jag25 runs well at the moment, but doesn’t like starting. It’s an electric start and the issue is that the bendix gear on the starter doesn’t engage well with the flywheel, resulting in lots of loud horrible crunching.

My hunch is that either one of the gears might now have degraded teeth. But I am trying to figure how to tell which gear needs replacing. Putting a new starter motor on is probably easier I would guess.

As part of diagnosing this I’ve examined the starter and noticed some wiggle on the shaft (see video of this ).



Am interested in any advice as to the next best step. (A new engine is a bit too expensive).

Thanks

 

[andsarkit]

These people are brilliant.
Plymouth alternators
If you are near Plymouth you can drop in or they do mail order. They can check and refurbish or provide a reasonably priced spare.
Your starter certainly looks in need of a repair.

 

[mikeywil]

Thank you @andsarkit for the recommendation. I got in touch with them and Tom's response at 6am this morning (!) was super-helpful...

Morning Michael

Ah, always nice to be mentioned on the forums! Yes I'd agree the slopping of the drive is excessive and warrants a replacement of the starter. Permanent magnet starters aren't generally rebuilt as by the time they develop a fault like this (or bad brush gear, slipping drives etc..) the motor body will be of an age where the magnets are at risk of cracking/coming unglued. Therefore, it generally works out cheaper to buy a replacement unit (£119 in this case) than to service, as we'd wind up replacing nearly everything bar the front bracket/housing.

I can't get a clear enough resolution to be 100%, but it looks like the chamfer on the teeth is at least dulled. I wouldn't be too concerned about the flywheel as 1) the flywheel is much "harder" than the teeth, and 2) the wear to the starter drive doesn't appear to be catastrophic.

Still, worth checking the flywheel as it's possible that if it was damaged prior it could be the causing factor of the wobbly starter. Again, highly unlikely.

Kind Regards
Tom

On this basis, I've ordered the replacement unit and it's on its way.

 

[mikeywil]

Just to close this one off… it’s all working very well with the new starter motor.

Here’s a really bad video showing it in action:
iCloud Photos - Apple iCloud

Thanks @andsarkit for the recommendation.