"Tim" wrote in message
...

On Jun 20, 7:08 pm, John H wrote:
On Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:40:46 -0400, L G
wrote:
John H wrote:
On Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:37:05 -0400, L
wrote:

John H wrote:

On Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:42:07 -0400, L
wrote:

John H wrote:

YES! Today I put the starter back on the Yamaha with the new
solenoid found by Tim after searching
and trying several different solenoids. Yamaha wanted about $570
for a new solenoid, or about $690
for a complete starter assembly. Tim found a solenoid for the
Hitachi starter which ran about $21.
Wow!

Tim, thank you.

Damn! That's a bargain! When did your warranty expire?

The warranty hasn't expired. The damage to the original solenoid was
due to operator error.

How is that possible?

From this thread: "Sad story, some stupidity, happy ending!"

Given all the troubles I've had with getting the boat started, which
have been due to loose grounds,
leaving switches on, etc, I decided to bring the boat home and check it
out before the outing
planned for yesterday and today.

Great intentions. I tightened the ground on the engine, and then went
to check the hot wire to the
solenoid. Well, lucky me, there was a sticker right there showing the
torque for the nut on the
solenoid! So I got out my trusty Craftsman torque wrench, which I've
used only on my motorcycle, set
it for 8 n-m, and proceeded to tighten the nut.

I couldn't believe how loose it was. After two turns of about 60
degrees with the wrench, I'd still
not felt the 'click' indicating the proper torque had been achieved. I
was surprised at how tight
that damn nut was supposed to be. But, I started to give it another
turn when 'POP', the Bakelite
plastic housing broke off. (Yes, I used a whole lot of foul language!)

So, I called my local Yamaha guy, who gave me an 'Oh ****, that's
expensive.' He then told me he
couldn't get parts from Yamaha because he'd not sold any new engines
lately. He carried Triumph
brand boats, and as they went bankrupt last year, he's not gotten any
to sell. Upon checking, I
found they've been bought and will be produced in Minnesota instead of
NC.

OK. I remember that now. I thought you were talking about it failing
due to operator error while operating it!

Failure due to operator error while said operator was attempting to
operate a big torque wrench with
very little torque.

I know now how to do so. Not bad, it took only 67 years and a couple
months to learn that lesson.

Murphy's torque tightening rule:

"Tighten it up 'till it snaps, then back 'er off a quarter turn"


Reply:
One of the hilarious moments of high school was just that. We were in auto
shop and the grounds keepers had the tractor for the football field in for a
new muffler. The grounds keeper asked how tight is tight. Some kid in the
class yelled out exactly your statement. You could hear the bolt snap all
over the shop. Needless to say we were in hysterics!