Should I be worried?

[jmstige]

Yesterday was a nice day and I decided to go out to the lake...The boat had not been run for about 6 weeks and there were a couple of chilly nights for us. After putting the plugs in - I started her up and the serpintine belt was screeching...I saw that it was not moving except for once every 3 or 4 seconds it would move just a little - then stop.

I stopped the engine - tried to start again - same thing.

Next - I loosed the belt and checked to see if I could spin the alternator/water pump and I could.

So - I tighted it back up and everything ran just fine. I just motored around close to idle for much of the afternoon and everything seemed normal.

The belt is new (about 30 hours on it) - do you think its OK or did I mess it up by running it in the above condition for about 10 secs? Also - any guesses as to what might have caused that?

TIA

[chpthril]

Sounds like the impeller had flip last time the motor was shut done. This tends to cause the belt to slip when restarted.

In the Spring, I would replace the impeller and inspect the belt real close. If it looks shiny (glazed over from getting hot) and hard/brittle, replace.

[jmstige]

Thanks Mike!

[illiniboarder88]

I have the same problem occassionally as well. It seems to happen on my boat if the boat is turned off while still in gear. This most frequently happens after docking. I'm not sure why this is the case. I just loosen the belt, mannually turn the pulley, and then it's fine.

[Jason B]

Tighten the belt and when you restart the engine the veins will flip back to the correct orientation.

[dogbert]

Sounds like the impeller had flip last time the motor was shut done.

What would cause this? I've not had this happen to me so I'm looking to avoid this totally unfun experience.

[chpthril]

What would cause this? I've not had this happen to me so I'm looking to avoid this totally unfun experience.

It's normal for an engine to rotate backwards a few degrees when shut down. It happens when you have a piston on the compression stroke when the ignition is killed. The pressure in the cylinder forces the piston back down a little. when this happens, the impeller veins roll over and now the impeller is facing backwards, if you want to say, when you start the engine back up. If the belt is slightly loose or warn, it's easier for it to slip then turn the pulley and "right" the impeller.

Kinda funny, but it seems to be more common on the mercs (based on what i've read)

[dogbert]

Hmm, I have a Merc and I've not experienced any problems. I am pretty anal about routine maintenance and rely on a pretty good service dept at my local dealer, so maybe there's a correlation. I have owned my boat since it was new, so I know everything that's happened to it.