95 sportster wont turn over

[95sportster]

Yesterday I had the boat out and was running fine for several hours. Toward the end of the day, I hit some pretty big wake and the engine simply died. It would turn over but not crank after that. I killed the battery trying so I had to get towed back in. I put the battery on a charger overnight and had it load tested this morning and it checked out fine.

This morning, I put the fresh battery back on and try to crank. It turns over several times but wouldnt fire up. I tried about 3 or 4 times taking a break between to save the starter. The 5th push of the start button gave me a loud click and now nothing. ITs not the solenoid, it feels like the engine is physically hitting something and keeping it from turning. I took out the plugs and tried to hand turn the crank and I get the same resistance. I can turn it about an inch in either direction before it feels like it hits something. Ive taken the starter off and still cant get a full turn of the motor.

I know I have 2 issues here but my question is what could the issue be that wont allow the motor to spin freely? It turned over just prior fine (just wouldnt fire up) so I dont think the motor is seized up. I checked the impeller to ensure no debris are caught up in it.

 

[riverdog]

My first thought would be to look inside the pump assy for debris. Try looking from underneath through the intake grate, at the impellor. With no obstruction, i would then proceed to removing the head of the motor for inspection. Its possible, you broke the skirt of the piston or a breass fitting from the injection oil pump fell into the motor as well.

 

[95sportster]

I pulled the pump completely off to eliminate that variable. The divorced pump spins freely. The motor still has the same symptoms- moving an inch before hitting something.

I also pulled just the top cover off the motor, just to check inside. I can see that one piston top is pretty pitted/rusted and in the near future Ill need a top end rebuild. So I guess my next step is to digging deeper into the motor to see if anything is below the pistons is broken. YOu mention the brass fitting of the oil pump- where would this be if this is what happened? Just floating around under the pistons?