SCORPIO
Well-Known Member
I was helping a friend of mine that now owns my last boat, a 1982 SRV 260 SXL with a 260 OCM. He said the starter wouldn't engage Sat. and he had to be towed in. I assumed it was a bad solenoid and we went down to the boat today to replace it. Well the starter was working but the engine wouldn't turn, even though it sounded like the starter was under load. I used a bar and we rotated the engine a bit to see it there was a worn spot on the flywheel and still got the same results, no movement. I pulled the starter again and we looked in at the ring gear teeth and they looked fine. I then marked the flywheel with some paint and started using a big screw driver to turn the engine one tooth at a time to check the whole gear for damage. Well I didn't have to turn much to find the problem, the ring gear is spinning on the flywheel! Seems the flywheel has a machined lip on it that the ring gear was pressed on to, probablly while hot and shrunk fit onto it. Somehow over time it has come free. The marina mechanic quoted him $1500 to pull the engine, replace the flywheel and reinstall. Money is tight for my friend right now so this didn't come as welcome news. They also can't do it for several weeks so that is not good as they were planning a trip for the last week in Aug.
We are wondering if the gear could be welded to the flywheel. I remember that ring gears are welded onto flex plates on automatic trans cars, so why couldn't a skilled welder tack this one down? It could be done in the boat as there is good access with the cover plate removed from the bell housing. The engine can be rotated with the OD in gear using a wrench and bar on the prop nut. Obviously the boat will need to be pulled and taken to the weld shop as I doubt the marina would allow welding on site. The fuel tank on this boat is in a seperate compartment from the engine seperated by a bulkhead. There is also the ability to place a fan in the bilge to vent welding gases etc. The bilge is very clean, no greasy build up, so if a welding blanket is used there should be little to damge with sparks. Also, the work will be under the engine and inside the bell housing so that should provide containment of slag, sparks etc. With a hose and fire extinguishers standing by, does this sound at all reasonable?
Has anyone ever heard of or had a ring gear come off a flywheel before?
Your thoughts and ideas would be appreciated as we couldn't come up with any more options.
We are wondering if the gear could be welded to the flywheel. I remember that ring gears are welded onto flex plates on automatic trans cars, so why couldn't a skilled welder tack this one down? It could be done in the boat as there is good access with the cover plate removed from the bell housing. The engine can be rotated with the OD in gear using a wrench and bar on the prop nut. Obviously the boat will need to be pulled and taken to the weld shop as I doubt the marina would allow welding on site. The fuel tank on this boat is in a seperate compartment from the engine seperated by a bulkhead. There is also the ability to place a fan in the bilge to vent welding gases etc. The bilge is very clean, no greasy build up, so if a welding blanket is used there should be little to damge with sparks. Also, the work will be under the engine and inside the bell housing so that should provide containment of slag, sparks etc. With a hose and fire extinguishers standing by, does this sound at all reasonable?
Has anyone ever heard of or had a ring gear come off a flywheel before?
Your thoughts and ideas would be appreciated as we couldn't come up with any more options.