Oiling Starter 454

[northern]

We have twin 454 1989 in 38 Aft Cabin with 1600 hours. The bendex grear chipped and broke off the shaft for about half the length. I did not get the pieces out of the bottom of the housing. I got the starter rebuilt it had a lot more cranking speed so I got the other rebuilt. In the manual it says to oil the starter. There is a spring tab on top of the starter that looks like you could put oil in it. I asked the rebuilder and he said not to oil it as oil will get into the back end of the starter and gum it up. Both staters looked original to the boat and there was no rust in either. I have never oiled them in 5 years. Teeth on the fly wheels looked good. No rust on fly wheels.

 

[northern]

Does any one know if oiling starters is required? If yes how often?

 

[my3sons]

No one has jumped in with boats similar to yours so maybe I can get the ball rolling.
On my current boat, with 8.1's, it calls for the starter to be oiled. It has an access port in the bell housing for that purpose, and I have done that. It also calls to oil the front bushing on the starter through the "oil cover" and I could not figure that one out so I did not do that. I thought at the time that I would have to get back to that one and never did.
I had 7.4's in my '95 330 and when I sold it last fall It had original starters in it, never any trouble with them and I never oiled them.
As far as how often, I think maybe once a year should do it for me (80-100 Hrs).

 

[northern]

Mark
Thanks for the response. I purchased a 21 foot jet boat (new, 330HP V8) this summer and it says to oil the starter in it. Sounds like this is a standard boat thing. Will talk to others I see with similar boats next summer.

 

[douglee25]

The portion that they refer to which requires oil is the bendix gear shaft and the bendix assembly. They can seize from lack of use or due to corrosion build up. The problem is to oil this portion, you need to have direct access to the bendix which is usually hard due to access (mounting location). If an access port is not there, the starter has to come out. I will not give advice whether this should be done or not, but I will say that many who use their boats on a regular basis, do not oil the starter, and do not experience issues.

Doug

 

[Lazy Daze]

No advice here, either. Other than to say this is the first time that I have heard of doing this. When I saw the title for this post, I thought it was going to be a "how often should you change your car's blinker fluid" type of post:smt001

 

[northern]

Thanks all for the information. There is a port with a 1/2" plug directly above the bendix directly above the fly wheel. You can see the teeth on the fly wheel. Is this an oiling point or is it the spring tab on the starter?

 

[my3sons]

On my 8.1, the plug is a red plastic "caplug"

 

[2000SEARAY280SS]

Here is what is in my manual for reassembly of the starter.

1. Install gear and drive over planetary gear shaft.
2. Assemble drive on shaft assembly as follows:
a. Lubricate drive end of shaft assembly with SAE 10W oil.
b. Place gear over shaft.
c. Slide drive assembly onto shaft with pinion facing outward.
d. Slide retainer onto shaft with cupped surface facing end of shaft (away from pinion).
This is the only place they reference any oil being used in the assembly of the starter.