Right in the middle of plowing

How does the cap come off?
Don't want to break anything. Tried pulling, and unscrewing.......didn't work.

 

Those buggers have a habit of the shaft getting pitted and then things don't slide correctly.

 

So, I'm seeing remnants of the shroud on the gear. Must be it came loose and got shredded/melted to the gear.
The plate under the gear has no way to stay with the gear, if that's what it's supposed to do.
I can pry it up and get it to screw up the spiral pinion gear, but it didn't do it on the tractor.

 

yup papa Dave it looks broke.. hopefully ya can fix it... never said I was real helpful on mechanics...

 

Well..... Your SUPPOSED to just toss money at it and buy a new......
It snaps into a groove tightly, try heat (heat gun, hair dryer) and a screwdriver to "pop" it off.
Second option, clean and lightly lube while working it fully up and down and praying fine dusty crap isn't inside.
Third option, my favorite......Cut the dang thing off and pretend you never saw it as most starters don't use them, they collect crap and they prevent you from servicing it regularly.

 

Ok, with a little persistance and a pocket knife, I got the cap off. It's a dust cap. evidently. Hardly any under there, so hmmm.
Everything is turning freely, but the gear isn't grabbing the flywheel.

 

I think I'll put the starter back on and see if it'll do it's thang.
If it doesn't, and no one has any other ideas, I'll order a new one. Need my GT back in running condition.

 

Could be nothing wrong with it. so more diagnosis is necessary on the system . If it's clean and free, other things are possible such as..
The motor is dead. Excessive electrical resistance, at least loosen clean and tighten down every large wire connection you can see. Battery, solenoid ECT. Will it start if jumped ? Do you have a voltmeter ?

 

Starter spins and the gear comes up to the flywheel but doesn't engage.
I can hand turn the flywheel/motor.
Trying to find the correct bendix kit is ......interesting.

 

If that plate came unattached from the gear I'll bet it a weight meant to stall the rotational acceleration of the gear. Can you look and see if they wuz once one ?

 

Like is the "melted shroud" actually the failed bonding agent ?

 

That's what I'm thinking.
Anyway, just put it back together, and the gear comes up to just under the flywheel, but no further. Spinnin' like cray-cray.

 

Looking at the pictures again I'll guess the 3 holes in the "washer" are the anchor points and something sheared separating it from the gear.

 

Yep, my exact thought.
That "washer" actually spins up the shaft, so I'm thinking it's supposed to be attached to the gear via the missing shroud.

 

I think repairing it is feasible, depending on how involved/ motivated you want to get. It's also possible that it's dirt cheap.

 

"cray-cray"... is that like jet turbine speed, or...

 

Call Golden Auto Electric in Kalkaska, goodhonest guys to deal with and prices are reasonable.

 

Warp speed......like Star Trek cray-cray. Oh, and I found a cheap starter for under $50 with free shipping. That's 1/2 - 1/3 price of others I've found. I'm goin' for it.
Weather's changing fast, and I gotz stuff ta do.

 

WTG my friend... git-R-dun mistah man...

 

So, the starter showed up a few days ago, and I finally got a chance to put it on. maybe,...maybe, 5 minutes and Wow, what a difference in how easily this spins the motor. Needed some choking, but started up on the 3rd try.
Now that all the snow's gone, I can get to work.