ok im stumped... starter problem here.

[xlonewolf1967]

I'm working on a friends 2001 sea doo gti with a 720 motor. someone who worked on it before him put in an SBT high torque starter for a 787. know its from a 787 because it has threads on the starter its self where as the 720 is threaded into the flywheel housing. and when they installed it they stripped out the hole in the flywheel housing on the bottom. so I pulled the motor and drilled it straight through. (nice and straight and true to the hole) and used a longer bolt and a nylock bolt on the back side.
ok heres where the fun begins. I installed the correct starter and it seated true in the hole no problems, got it all bolted up nice and tight and put power to it and it just binds in the flywheel and barely spins the motor with the plugs out. the motor spins freely by hand with no plugs in so its not seized. I tried 3 starters all of which start my 95 xp 720 motor with ease with the plugs installed. the teeth on the flywheel are 99.9% good and the flywheel runs true and not bent. I cross referenced the part numbers for my 95 xp starter to a starter for the 2001 gti and they are the same.
I am truly at a loss here....:facepalm:

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Are you sure the starter cables aren't corroded internally?

 

[xlonewolf1967]

yup checked them already, already swapped them out for different ones. the starter was mounted in on an angle because it was the wrong starter so now I'm thinking that because it was on an angle the Bendix was coming in contact with the flywheel on an angle and was mushrooming the teeth creating a tighter tolerance between the teeth and binding on the new starter Bendix . am I just grasping here or does it sound possible ? going to pull the flywheel and check it out. is the 657 flywheel the same timing wise ?
I have a couple good ones laying around if they are

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I suppose it's possible the flywheel teeth could be damaged although they're pretty tough, also the starter mounting boss could be distorted? If you pull the bendix to engagement is there interference?

On the flywheel, the ignition trigger magnets might be different quantity and location, not sure.

 

[xlonewolf1967]

ok so I put a 657 flywheel on it that had a little bit better teeth on it and energized the starter and sure enough it turned the motor over till it reached a bad spot and stopped. flywheel was from a 657 not a 657x. I have the motor on my bench and am using a battery charger on "start" to energize the starter. I'm not trying to make it run I'm just turning it over.
sportster thanks for your time and input I appreciate it. I have been working on jet skis for the past 7 years and still get stumped once and a while. this forum is a great resource for finding things out and getting different opinions from different people.

 

[Seadoodoc]

Seadoo had alot of starter problems back then. They finally switch to kawi starter bendix on 951. One of the tricks in day(90,s) was moving from a 9 tooth starter to 8. This kept direct drive operation rpm cranking speed higher. How the hell it bolts up and aligns baffles me. Don't forget while using a battery charger that many Chargers will not function correctly unless they sense the load of the battery. Another words it needs a battery in line to kick out full and amps