BTW, Shop wants 8-10 hours for service!

" wrote in
message news:sq7Pa.25045$ye4.20078@sccrnsc01...
See previous thread way below...

I've got to let the shop do it, and pray they get it right. Though my time
won't allow it, it's what I'd prefer.

What WOULD cause the gear to fail?

I was hoping that it was just a matter of metallurgy. Perhaps Ford/PCM
outsourced ring gear manufacture to Alfa Romeo? ; ) Other teeth on the
ring gear and the starter gear teeth look normal.

The boat (95 MB Sports Boss 190 w/ 5.8-351 PCM ProBoss) has only about
200
hours and the starter looked to be original, though hard to be sure.
Starter was seated properly, and seemed to be properly torqued (needed my
impact wrench to remove in order to avoid busted knuckles)

I'd only had the boat out four times, so it's certainly possible that the
problem was pre-existing. I might even be able to keep a wrench on board
and make it through the rest of the season (just turn it over by hand two
degrees or so if it hits the toothless part of the gear)

I had the drivetrain checked by a marina prior to purchase. Compression,
plugs, etc. were fine. Was occasionally a hard starter in that it
sometimes
"acted" like it was laboring to start. Sometimes engaging the starter
would
fail to turn over the engine, even when the engine was fully warmed up. I
attributed the problem to a high compression engine and a five year old
battery, which I then replaced.

Any thoughts on ring gear failure???

Thanks!

Matt


"Reg" wrote in message
...
Go get the automotive equivalent, preferably from a parts place that
will fit it onto your old flywheel.
Perhaps more importantly, find out WHY you've lost teeth - e.g.
starter not mounted properly.
If you want to do it yourself you can play around with putting the ring
gear in the oven and the flywheel in the freezer, be sure there are
THREE solid reference points supporting the flywheel at it's edge.
Make sure the ring gear drops to each of these pads, you have a few
seconds to get it straight, but only a few. The old one can be broken
off with a cold chisel.

Wear safety glasses, use oven mitts, don't do this unless you're
confident about it - pay $20/25 to a pro instead.

\R


" wrote:

HELP!

Thought I had a bad starter, but upon removal found two teeth sheared
from
the ring gear. No local PCM dealer, but a local marina says that the
PCM
ring gear is no longer available as a separate part, but only with the
flywheel assembly.

Any difference between the automotive and marine ring gear? I have
found
the automotive equivalent for $20 (164 tooth for a 351W) vs. $375 for
a
flywheel with ring gear. I have to make sure pin
location/diameter/tooth
count is the same and there are no "special treatments" to be
concerned
with. I'll also need to count the teeth on the existing flywheel,
plus
two
: if no one out there has the specs. Not hard, but not easy with
three
kids under five yrs either...

Any recommendations?

TIA,

Matt