Currently trouble shooting my starter motor and wondering where I can buy a replacement if I need to. Prefer an Australian supplier. (Yanmar themselves have historically been super expensive so I have not yet investigated them. They're last choice).
Any suggestions?

Then there is the old fashioned rebuild alternative.
bashisautoelectrics.com.au/starter-motor-and-alternator-rebuilding-brisbane/

gary

zilla said..
Currently trouble shooting my starter motor and wondering where I can buy a replacement if I need to. Prefer an Australian supplier. (Yanmar themselves have historically been super expensive so I have not yet investigated them. They're last choice).
Any suggestions?

I would suggest eBay. r13 gave the part number for this Hitachi S114-815A. They are on eBay but carefully check the dimensions, number of teeth etc and buy a new Chinese starter motor. Yanmar would be using a common off the shelf item that is used on other engines like everybody else, you just have to find which one.
I bought a Chinese starter motor for my Beta 20hp off eBay for $180. The quality is superb. What was interesting was that there were several choices that looked different but had the same size flange and same dimension of pinion throw out. Either 8 or 9 teeth would work as well.
Pull the starter motor and see if the part number is still visible or take all the critical measurements and start searching. Buy new though. You may find there is a more powerful unit available.

I bought one years ago for my old Yacht that had that same motor. I just got it from a good auto elec.
It was much better too. The old one was direct drive and the new one was geared. I reckon it could have just about turned over a SEIZED motor! :)

r13 said..

Ramona said..

zilla said..
Currently trouble shooting my starter motor and wondering where I can buy a replacement if I need to. Prefer an Australian supplier. (Yanmar themselves have historically been super expensive so I have not yet investigated them. They're last choice).
Any suggestions?

I would suggest eBay. r13 gave the part number for this Hitachi S114-815A. They are on eBay but carefully check the dimensions, number of teeth etc and buy a new Chinese starter motor. Yanmar would be using a common off the shelf item that is used on other engines like everybody else, you just have to find which one.
I bought a Chinese starter motor for my Beta 20hp off eBay for $180. The quality is superb. What was interesting was that there were several choices that looked different but had the same size flange and same dimension of pinion throw out. Either 8 or 9 teeth would work as well.
Pull the starter motor and see if the part number is still visible or take all the critical measurements and start searching. Buy new though. You may find there is a more powerful unit available.

In theory if gear teeth numbers are changed then the gear centre separation distance changes as well. Suggest stick to same number of gear teeth on your existing pinion.

I actually bought one with the same number of teeth but all the info on Kubota diesel starter motors mentions the fact that they will operate with the other gear.
What impressed me most with this new Chinese starter motor versus the original {Chinese} starter motor is the quality of the alloy casting and machine work, it's first class.

Well I don't need to buy another starter motor yet. I traced all wiring, especially the heavy duty cables feeding the thermal overload breaker, VSR and starter motor, removing connections, cleaning and re fastening. It all looked fine with no corrosion or loose terminals - just as well really since I'm the one who designed and installed it all when I finished building the boat about 13 yrs ago !
I also located the sneaky 30A fuse within the Yanmar wiring loom on the engine (thanks to you r13 and the cruisers forum link you provided yesterday). I cleaned that as well but it seemed okay. I also located a sneaky spade joint within the same Yanmar loom on the starter circuit and re crimped it to ensure a good connection. By "sneaky" I mean Yanmar taped the loom and sprayed grey paint over the whole lot so it is very difficult to spot items that are not a cable. All joints were sprayed with WD40 prior to re assembly.
Lastly I checked the terminals on the Yanmar instrument panel containing the start switch but again they looked fine so I did not remove and re install those terminals.
Anyway, the engine fired up as it usually does and all seems good. Unfortunately the cause of the issue is not 100% clear. The loom spade connection on the starting circuit is a possibility since it did not look perfect but there could still be a problem within the starter motor. I did remove all connections and the solenoid from the starter motor but everything looked okay. It has only done 170 engine hours so has had a pretty easy life.
I'll update this thread after I start the engine next time in another month or two. That should finalise any conclusions.
Hopefully these details may help someone else in solving their starting issues.

The smaller cables in the circuit may be the source of your problem. Crimped joints, in particular, may pass 12volts fine but break down under load. In my case with the Kubota engine mounted in the middle of the boat means there is a long run to the starter panel in the rear of the cockpit. The engine installers get around this by having an extension cable with 11 wires that connect with spade connectors. They have essentially quadrupled the number of failure points. Now everything works but occasionally the solenoid just clicks like there is a flat battery. The battery is not flat, it's floating at 14.5v most of the time during the day but there is not enough current flowing to the spade fitting on the solenoid. Vertigrae at the wire ends is the problem. What I am doing this morning is replacing some of the cables. The heavy battery cables to the starter motor and block are fine but always check the earth lead to the block. The first wire I'm replacing is the fused line to the solenoid. Soldered terminal and all joins soldered and covered with heat shrink. The second one is the starter switch wire to the spade on the starter motor solenoid. This is crimped but if you can, put solder down to seal the wires. This engine has glo plugs and I'm replacing that cable as well. Just replacing these 3 cables and getting rid of the spade joiners should cure all the problems. The other wires in the loom run low current so are not so important but I might change the shut-off solenoid wire while I'm there.

santanasaga said..
you could try and pull it apart and replace the bushes yourself?

Yes one of the things I did was dismantle the starter to check the brushes. They were not worn enough to replace and moved freely within their brackets. I gave them a spray with WD40 anyway.

Ramona said..
Now everything works but occasionally the solenoid just clicks like there is a flat battery.

This is what started the whole saga - except my battery does need replacing. I'm using a heavy duty jump starter pack to help until I buy a new start battery. I suspect you are correct Wongaga & Ramona and the smaller cables in the starter circuit are the cause. Another possibility is the engine start switch itself on the panel but it appears to be a sealed unit so I'll eliminate other possibilities first.

You could test to eliminate the solenoid/starter switch wiring by using a jumper to deliver a healthy full 12V directly to its coil (ie bypassing the starter switch). But I'd blow the 10 bucks anyway and fit the relay while you're down there.

You could also work your way through the circuit with a multimeter and find out for sure where the problem is.