Neal, Before you spend a lot of money, remove the starter. With 1 bolt attach it to the engine in an easily accessible place making sure the wires/connectors are not touching anything and the bendix is free to move. Now press the start button while watching the gear. Does it move? I don't mean spin, although it needs to do that too. I mean away from the starter motor, or even toward it. If it moves and spins there is no reason to buy a new starter. You need to very carefully measure the distance from the point on the engine where the starter mounts to the edge of the ring gear on the flywheel. Then carefully measure the distance from the face of the starter motor to the furthest the pinion gear extends when you press the start button.. The pinion gear needs to move more (but not much) than the distance you need to get to the edge of the ring gear.
There are ways to either adjust the 'throw' of the bendix, or rebuild the bendix if it is just too worn. Only after you take the starter and the measurements you have made to an automotive starter repair shop should you consider buying another starter when you are so close to fixing the problem already! Eric Thompson S/V Procrastinator South San Francisco [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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