Reply To: 1961 40hp Evinrude difficult to turn under compression

[pinka]

I pulled apart the starter.  It was very gummed up inside. There were only two brushes. One of the brushes was stuck.  I freed it up cleaned everything out.  I lightly sanded the surface the mild corrosion off the armature. Cleaned the communicator. Put a little lithium grease at the base of the spindle and reinstalled.

I connected it to a 700CCA battery with jumper cables and while it was a little better, it still didn’t have enough oomph to keep the flywheel spinning without pausing for a moment.

The brushes were worn.  I am not sure how worn is worn out. They were worn to the shape of the round communicator.  I would guess from looking at photos of new ones that they were at least a 1/3rd worn down.

The other thing that happens now is that the gear doesn’t retract when the starter stops spinning.  It wasn’t doing that before I took it apart.   I’ll take it apart again and post some photos tonight.