How many teeth do we need?

Even though I hadn’t yet considered purchasing one to have as a spare, yesterday I found myself researching starter motors for our Perkins diesel engine. Pourquoi? While listening to the morning radio net, I heard one of the local cruisers advertise that he had a Perkins 4.108 starter for sale. Curious to see if it was the same starter that was required for our engine, I began to do some research.

From what I could find online, both from documents that I read, and from consulting some knowledgable friends, it does seem to be the same motor. That doesn’t really tell all though. It seems from my reading that a key difference in some of these starters is the number of teeth that are on the gear. There appears to be 10, 12, and 13 tooth varieties, and perhaps there are others too. I don’t know. So the question is, which one does our engine require, and is there any way to find out for sure without removing the starter from the engine? Needless to say, I did not buy the starter that was available here.

By the time you read this post, Rebecca and I will be on our way to Carriacou, buddy boating with our friend Dirk on Evening Ebb. The final destination for the two of us is actually going to be Martinique, where the Caribbean headquarters for Amel is located. Today though, we’ll just be sailing to Carriacou with Dirk. After clearing out of the country tomorrow, we’ll carry on alone with an overnighter to Le Marin.