2000 yamaha 200 saltwater series

[aldestin]

Hi there,

I recently was running up to plane and all of a sudden, the alarm went on. Usually, it means the oil is low, and I simply stop and add oil. This time, there was tremendous "clunking" and the engine would not start. The starter pops up but seems to stop the flywheel. I can manually spin the flywheel but when I try to start it, the starter pops up and stops it. Could it be electrical? Again, normally it's the oil alarm but this sounds bads. Why could the started be acting up when it wasn't in use?

Thanks for your help!

[boats.net]

It sounds like something broke inside engine. Remove spark plugs, look for metal transfer on plugs. Try spinning engine over with plugs out.