Old sytle and New style Mercruiser Starter Question

[75starflight]

Hello all,  Order a new starter from boats.net for my mercruiser 120 and of course the number subbed up to the newer style small starter. I noticed that the bendix on the new starter has 11 teeth, while the old starter only has nine. Now from what I have ran into at work is that a different tooth bendix will not interchange. but the way this looks with the teeth on the flywheel and the teeth on the new starter they have improved it so it spins the engine faster during starting. Am I correct in thinking this, or should I just buy a starter off ebay like the orginal?

Thanks,

Brandon

[Rich_V174SS]

Not sure if the starter will be compatible because of the different size bendix but the "peanut" starters have a planetary gear set to gear them down to make them strong enough to crank the engine making it a more efficient starter in a smaller package. Another thing to consider is I think there was a change in the size of flywheels at some point and the newer starter's bendix may be suited to a newer flywheel.

[75starflight]

Thanks for that info Rich, you confermed my thoughts. I will purchase a starter that matches the original.