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Need some help- need starter replaced or rebuild

eddy

Well-known member
Hello guys, hope all is well...

I need some guidance...

I have what appears to be a bad started on my airboat. It appears to be a Chrysler starter part #375 5259 05111. I already replaced the Starter Solenoid with an AC Delco product and the boat does the same thing.. When I hit the ignition, I hear a click, and I hear the starter engage, but it fails to crank..

If I hit the ignition several times, I may get lucky and get the engine to crank; then she starts right up... Some times I hit the ignition and it will engage and crank and then die out..

I took the starter out and same thing, it fails to crank..

The guys at NAPA cant figure out a replacement, and I dont dare to ask the dorks at my local DAP store...

I can either replace it if I find a like product or I can have it rebuilt. Do you all know where I can get a replacement or where I can send this one to get rebuilt?

Thank you in advance...

Eddy



http://www.southernairboat.com/photopos ... hoto/13285
 
eddy, now might be a good time to go with an air-tec starter kit. lighter weight and more cranking power. 1-800-366-4746
 
Sound like you have a bad spot on your starter motor. I would replace the starter motor or take it down to your local auto parts store and have them test it. But even then that test is not full proof. I would just replace the starter motor.
 
I may be wrong but isn't the clicking sound mean you have a bad or weak battery not getting enough power to the starter.

there is no telling what starter is on there , I have brackets for a misubis, hamburg and a chevy and been out to mervins and seen three or four other types so I guess it depend son what is available when they put the engine together .

if you post a picture someone could probably ID it or there should be some type of numbers or tag on the starter.

A local starter alternator repair shop should be able to rebuild it no problem but you need to find a good shop not just the first one in the phone book. if you can't find any down there I know one up here I would recommend.
 
Eddy,thats an older chrysler starter,the used that starter from the 60`s all the way up to the early 90`s i believe.The slant six,318,and 440 starter wwere all the same I think,maybe a mopar man will chime in here,but ask for one for 79 pickup with a slant six,if that ain`t right just change the engine size.If I can help more let me know
 
The original aftermarket starter was the Chrysley 440 starter with the aluminum 2 piece bracket that has a bolt on nose piece. It sounds like that is what you have. Those brackets were always bad about cracking. The problem with that set up is that starter was not designed to be used in open conditions. When on the boat the open end of the starter fills with water and they do not last very long. A trick I learned is to drill a small hole in the bottom of the starter nose. That will allow any water to drain out. Now I use and sell Air-Tec starter kits. They are nice products.
 
I'm with goldhunter on this one. It sounds like your battery ground needs some attention. It could be the starter is drawing too many amps for another reason but the higher the amps required the more push you need from the battery. Check those connections, make sure you have large cables going to the battery and starter with short connections. Have the starter repair shop tell you how many amps it is drawing and they should be able to help you with a good fix. Let us know how it turns out. Might be a lesson for the rest of us to learn here.
 
after I sunk my boat my starter was turning like that too. It acted like a low battery. Put a new battery in and still didn't work so I changed the solenoid since its a cheap even though I new that wasn't it. Eventually dropped the starter and took it to a repair shop. It was shot. 80 bucks to get it rebuilt and runs like new.
 
Count the teeth on the ring gear. If there are 121 not 149 then the Chrysler 440 starter 1979 will work. The are cheep & some stores give a life time warranties.

I had a bad ground cable on mine that acted the same way. I found it by grabbing the cable & it was warm after trying to start the boat. Also a volt meter check will work.
 
Thanks guys for all the help....

I have changed both battery cables, Battery itself, Alternator, Starter Solenoid, etc.. since I got the boat.

I get 12+ volts out of the solenoid, I would need to put the Ampmeter in line to measure the amps

Mike is absolutely right, the starter fills up with water due to its position..If I keep it, I will drill the hole.

When I first noticed the issue, I purchased a the new battery (over 800 CCA), the one that came with the boat was old; at first I thought the starter was gonna fly out of the back, it cranked with unbelievable power, so my first thought was the battery may have been overcharged from factory for shelve life. I was happy. But then a couple of weeks later, same thing happened, it will engage, but not turn, and if it turns, it will turn very slowly like if the battery was dying... But you give it several more tries, and my get lucky to get it to crank.

I have since then put the battery on a trickle charger, and have load tested the battery, battery appears to be ok.

Im going to check all the above options, and possible swap the cables again with some heavier gauge battery cables.

One thing I have noticed also is the electric fuel pump, sometimes it sounds powerful, and other times a little weak..Im going to recheck all the wiring again just to be on the safe side..

Thank you all for your help! Much apprieciated.

I will post my findings soon.

Eddy
 
Eddy,

DeJaVu...all over again. been there, done that, got the T-shirt and spent the money.

AirTec is the way to go....less weight, more torque, less battery drain.....took a new install kit for the alt & starter on mine. I used a die grinder to add just enough clearance to put a spare alt belt strapped to my engine so I didn't have to pull the prop to fix a broke belt.....eliminated TWO MAJOR headaches.

I'd bet Mike Thurman could fix you right up.....
 
AirTec will go on my next boat... :oops: This little boat wont last for me, the family (4 girls and my wife) all like to go out on the boat, and I cant take them all at the same time... I need to pony up to a bigger badder boat in a year or two... :)

I changed the Starter with one from NAPA and all is good now!! :D Cranked right up.

Thanks for all your input guys....!!!

This is why this site is awesome!
 
i know you said you had it fixed and i dont know if anyone said it already but check your ground wire......had the same problem on a demo car and after 3 starters thats what it ended up being
 
D...Ground cables looks good, its fairly new. But Im planning on going with some heavier gauge cable this weekend just to be safe...
 
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