tried to ruin my day

[Justin_NSA]

The first sail of the season didn't go smoothly. The boat is new to me so I'm still getting used to it. I had a nice sail. Checked out all of the rigging etc. I sure like the auto helm when single handing. Any, when it was time to come in I tried to start the diesel and it wouldn't kick over very smoothly. I thought it was a bad battery. I tried (all) and I tried (s)art but it wouldn't turn over much at all. Then I tried (H)ouse and it finally started. It was a miracle considering what the problem was. Long story short: after troubleshooting it for some time. I finally discovered a broken starter. The nose supporting the shaft bearing broke clean off. My new starter should be in before the Memorial Day weekend. Makes me wonder if I need a spare on board. It would not have been easy single handing Bella back into the dock with the wind coming straight off of the shore.

 

[jssailem]

Better to discover on a test sail than when entertaining the admiral and friends on an cruise.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Better to discover on a test sail than when entertaining the admiral and friends on an cruise.

Exactly !! They wouldn't have been able to help anyway. It's not like you can get out and push!

 

[jssailem]

That is what the sails are for. There was a forum with "sailors confessions ". I told my tale of motoring for 2 hours towards the Admirals chosen first cruise adventure port. Only to have engine stop. Contaminated fuel. Broke out sails as wind picked up only to have breeze stop before alternate port (15 miles short of planned destination, at the entrance of the bay for alternate destination) . Fortunately a fellow boater came by an gave us a tow. Made the dock, took my bride to a great meal, wine and sunset. She tells the story of her first boat adventure, always "the boat died and we were stranded". Stuff happens.

 

[sailnewbie]

I've seen that happen before on a different motor, it was caused by the mounting bolts being loose so the starter was basically being supported by the nose, was this the case? Also some starters need to be shimmed on installation or else it'll bind up and break the Bendix or possibly the nose cone, I'm not familiar with your motor but something to check into

 

[Justin_NSA]

I hear ya'. I looked for something like that. The bolts were tight. No shims. Not sure if the new one will have them or if they even bother. The teeth on the flywheel are a little nicked but nothing serious. That would be a serious problem if they were broken. . It's a Yanmar. I'll check the manual to see if there are any precautions on installing a starter.

 

[sailnewbie]

Yea for sure, I've been a diesel mechanic for 20+ years and only seen it once, so odds are you won't see it again unless something screwie is going on

 

[Benny17441]

That looks like an aftermarket starter. Could have been a bad casting.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I'm sure it is. It said '"Dixie" on it. As in "you ain't just whistlin' Dixie". I was thinking bad casting too. There's no real strain on the nose. It just holds the bearing for the armature.

 

[Justin_NSA]

In closing, final update; The new starter went in fine. Hunter has convenient engine access panels even though I had to hang over the commode to install it. Had a great Memorial Day weekend with assorted guests onboard. Thank God the starter broke earlier with no one else on board.
If I could get my mainsail to come down smoother I'd be golden. If it keeps raining, we'll be wading out to the slips !

 

[Justin_NSA]

Arrgh! It happened again!! I purchased the new starter back in May 2016 from DBElectrical thru ebay. It has been fine until now. Yesterday we were getting set to take some friends out and I got that bad starter sound. At least this time it happened in the slip.
So today I pulled the starter out and it came in pieces. In fact one quarter sized piece is still in there somewhere. As you can see in the pics, the same &^^%$%#@ thing happened again! I sent the same pics and a very agitated letter to the company. I said a need a reliable starter and I wouldn't reorder from them again. Th e1 year warranty is over anyway.
The mounting bolts were tight. No odd noises. What does this? Timing? It's a Yanmar 2GM20. If you look at the shaft bearing, it is out of round. Did this happen before or after the failure?
I am going to see if any Yanmar dealers have a thought.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

When I went thru a bunch (>4) on my TR3 finally found it was related to too advanced of timing. I’d have someone check the injector timing and valves.

Les

 

[Justin_NSA]

Thanks Les. That is where I'm going to look next. It does start hard sometimes . I hope I can fish that piece out and not have to separate the trans from the engine. It's nonmagnetic.

 

[RoyS]

The casting on the nose of the starter is designed to hold the starter gear in exactly in the right place relative to the flywheel gear. There is no lateral play. That damaged bearing seat on your starter appears to have been forced sideways. I would look carefully at every tooth on your flywheel for something wedged in-between the gear teeth.

 

[kloudie1]

and make sure the number of teeth on the starter gear is correct.. When the starter is turning the engine over, there is a big load on the nose cone as the gears try to push themselves apart..

 

[Justin_NSA]

Thank guys. i will manually rotate the crank and check the teeth.
At least we had a good sail this weekend with our slip neighbors.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Got a response from Neimiec Marine today. It's where I get my Yanmar parts. Maybe I'm just not spending enough on the part. It's a boat after all. Everything should be $$$. I paid less than $100 for mine. They want $412 for theirs. Plus shipping!

Wow I haven’t seen that before, at least not with the factory Hitachi starter.
I’m not a mechanic but I assume if the gear is properly engaged to flywheel and properly bolted to flywheel housing that shouldn’t happen.
Perhaps these aftermarket rebuilds use an inferior casting.
Yanmar only offers new, no rebuilt, Hitachi or Denso electrical components ( starter / alternator ).
We stock that starter $412.41 plus shipping……

 

[kloudie1]

Neither of the two starters look to be original....

 

[jssailem]

I always look for a reasonable price. But you have had this issue happen 2 times in 3 years. Maybe the $412 is worth it if you can get. Years out of the unit. Will they give you a couple of year warranty?

 

[Maine Sail]

Arrgh! It happened again!! I purchased the new starter back in May 2016 from DBElectrical thru ebay. It has been fine until now. Yesterday we were getting set to take some friends out and I got that bad starter sound. At least this time it happened in the slip.
So today I pulled the starter out and it came in pieces. In fact one quarter sized piece is still in there somewhere. As you can see in the pics, the same &^^%$%#@ thing happened again! I sent the same pics and a very agitated letter to the company. I said a need a reliable starter and I wouldn't reorder from them again. Th e1 year warranty is over anyway.
The mounting bolts were tight. No odd noises. What does this? Timing? It's a Yanmar 2GM20. If you look at the shaft bearing, it is out of round. Did this happen before or after the failure?
I am going to see if any Yanmar dealers have a thought.
View attachment 150987View attachment 150988

This is what can happen when we buy Chinese knock-off stuff that does not have an actual brand associated with it. If one of them said Dixie, it should be a somewhat decent unit as Dixie manufactures most units in North America. Neither of those look like a Dixie and they look Chinese so perhaps even Dixie sources some stuff from China....

Your source sells / is selling mostly Chinese knock-offs. This would not be the first Chinese knock-off alternator or starter I have seen do this nor will it be the last.

Heck just read my snowmobile story from over the winter. I believe that starter came from the same company. As Yanmar pointed out genuine Hitachi or Denso equipment is far superior, but you do pay for them.

Please, if you have an OEM starter that goes bad, HAVE IT REBUILT!! Please do not turn in a good quality piece of equipment, as a core, for eBay grade junk.

I try very hard to sway folks away from creating issues like this, for themselves, but I can only lead the horse to water I can't make them drink it. (grin) Ask yourself how much you will have saved if this has damaged your flywheel? The answer is well into the huge negatives -$$$$$$$.... (wink)