Port engine flywheel missing a tooth

[Mack]

Hello.

I just put my rebuilt starter back in, and it cranks but makes a nasty clicking noise.

Sure enough, the Gopro revealed that the flywheel is missing a tooth.

Any advice?
How bad is this? Would you run it that way? I'm thinking the starter will start breaking off the next tooth if I keep cranking. I'm looking to sell the boat eventually, so it would be way better to fix it now.

I'm hoping I can disconnect the flywheel housing, support the aft end of the engine, unlag the motor mounts from the stringers and slide the engine forward enough to get inside the flywheel housing.
I'm picturing taking the flywheel off and having a tooth welded onto it if I cant find a replacement flywheel.

Any opinions on the strength of a welded tooth compared to original? Maybe a flywheel from another engine that will fit, in case I can't find a replacement?

Not sure how you would lift an engine out of this Carver Aft Cabin. Forklift extension coming in through the window?

Thanks folks

[Viper]

A missing tooth will ruin your rebuilt starter after a while. Don't weld on a tooth, you shouldn't have a problem finding a new or used flywheel for that engine. Mark the tooth at your starting point as tooth number one and start counting, you may need to know the number of teeth. If there's enough room, you may be able to replace the flywheel in place. While you're in there, inspect and make sure the pressure plate is in good shape.

Missing teeth can be noisy but have you also checked to ensure the clicking is from the missing tooth and not from low voltage resulting in a solenoid chatter?

[Mack]

Thanks for the info.

I'm still wrestling with the neutral safety switch wire connection on the starter solenoid. The post comes loose, so I took the starter off, to get myself some space to work on securing the post. I tightened the nut at the base of the NSS threaded post. Might put a lockwasher in there.
The NSS post nut was only finger tight when the chattering occurred. Maybe that caused the solenoid to chatter.

With the starter off again, I set up the go pro looking in the starter mount hole, and barred the engine over a full revolution. That's when I noticed the missing tooth. The flywheel also has a corroded section where it looks like the bottom 3 inches or so sat submerged. The missing tooth is not in the corroded area.

The gopro video showed how much corrosion debri was on the lip of the starter mount hole. It needs to be cleaned up.
Obviously this is where the starter grounds to the engine block. But the starter still has the whole contact area of the mounting flange meeting the flywheel housing, so?

If the chatter was caused by any of these things, then the sound I heard was unrelated to the missing tooth. Then the tooth is a coincidence? What convinced me of the missing tooth explanation was the regular timing of the sound, that seemed to match one rotation of the engine. When cranking slowed, the sound was delayed to match.

If running the engine this way damages the starter and not the flywheel, I may leave it for now. The starter can be removed and rebuilt again with new teeth, much more easily than the flywheel.
I have six weeks here before the yard rent doubles in the spring. I still have an entire transmission to remove, rebuild and install again.

Both jobs require support of the aft ends of the engines, as the motor mounts are on the transmission.
Glad to hear a flywheel should be easy to find. I will check the condition of the pressure plate.

Leaving it for now, or dealing with it right now, depends on the feasibility of sliding the motor forward to access the flywheel. The placement of my boat in the yard and lack of forklift means that pulling or even lifting an engine is probably not an option right now.

Thanks again. Your advice is much appreciated.

[Viper]

If you have room behind the transmission, you can remove the transmission without moving the engine, providing you actually have access to work behind the engine while it's in place and enough space around the engine to get the tranny out. If you have to, sometimes it just takes removing an exhaust hose or two to get the room you need in a tight spot. The amount of prop shaft visible between the coupler and the packing nut will determine how much room you have to pull the tranny bell housing. You only need about 3" to clear the tranny input shaft from the engine. Support the bottom of the back of the block before you proceed. Try to disperse the load over a wide area of the hull.

[km1125]

I can't imagine trying to just slide the engine forward to gain enough clearance. I'm with Viper on the suggestion to pull the trans to get access to the flywheel.

If there's not enough room to slide the trans back (because it hits the shaft packing), then you also usually have an option to raise the rear of the assembly up so that the trans flange is higher than the propshaft flange. You have to remove the rear mounts anyways, you just end up blocking the rear of the engine higher to do it. You'd probably have to remove the exhaust because it's not flexible enough but you'd probably want to do that anyways to get easy access to everything (trans/flywheel/etc).

I definitely would not weld a tooth on. I am sure you could find a compatible flywheel to replace the bad one. May as well inspect the flex plate while you're in there, as it's a easy change with all that stuff off, and an annoying rattle if it's bad.

[waybomb]

I would also replace the flywheel bolts and do whatever is recommended for torque and locktite.

[bud37]

Yep....all the above......trans weight /around 160# +.... vs engine weight / around 600#+........I think I would remove the trans assemblies and repair properly......not a real argument considering.The hard part will be to avoid the while we are in there costs...

Now that said, you referred to selling the boat, maybe consider selling it as it is, test the market and avoid losing on the return on your repair investment. The one engine will still start with the new starter.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.....

[Viper]

Do you know if the bilge took on water high enough to corrode that section of the flywheel? To avoid having to revisit a possible cause later, when you get access to the back of the block, make sure it's not a rear frost plug that has a leak. If there's a leak there'll be obvious signs and you'll want to fix that before putting the bell housing back on.

[Georgeviking]

I would think by now you have settled on a game plan. Just tossing it out there eventually you probably will break off the next tooth as starter picks up a bit of speed before hitting next tooth but as the others have said sliding tranny back or removing it altogether would be preferred good luck.