I can hear my starter spinning, but it will not engage. I have heard you can smack a starter with a hammer, but am not sure about where to hit it. I have had the tractor for 12 years, so it is safe to say it is older than that. I would guess it is the original. Any idea best way to go about this? Take it off and try to get a rebuild kit? Buy a new one? Thanks for any suggestions.
Usually you hit on the "barrel" of the starter, Check your battery voltage first though, make sure its 12.5v+
If you can hear the starter running but it will not turn the engine it needs a new drive. Hitting the starter sometimes will bring one to life if the brushes are not making good contact with the armature from worn brushes or weak brush holder springs. There was a change made in some early starters to increase starter performance so make sure you get the drive with the proper amount of teeth on it. If the mod was done to your starter the starter number will not be correct for the proper drive as the whole end housing was changed to allow for a 9 tooth drive instead of the original 10 tooth drive. Mel
is this the type of drive you are talking about? http://www.dealsinapinch.com/case-i...188d310350450480c500580b580c630650730740.aspx
That is not a Starter Drive.A Starter Drive is what engages the Fly Wheel to turn the Engine.Looks like a Gear.Will be on the Starter end that fits inside Bell Housing. Hope that helps.Some call it a Bendix. Sounds like the soleniod might be bad which is what you have in the link.The Drive if it is bad will have broke are rounded teeth usually.If the Starter is that old might be best to have new brushes and bushing or bearings installed.
I agree with all the above. First of all, must have good battery voltage. On some starters, low voltage will pull the solenoid in enough to engage the contact plate causing starter motor to turn, but it won't pull in far enough (from low voltage) to compress the spring at contact plate and engage starter drive with flywheel teeth. Result is just a spinning motor. If battery voltage is good, as previously said, more than likely failed starter drive. Either teeth chewed off of it, or sprag clutch in starter drive has failed.
Took my handy little load tester out. Had 13V. Put a load on the battery for 30 seconds. Had 12.5v. The year old battery is looking good. Came back inside for some heat. Got me a big hammer. hooked up my negative battery cable. Cranked. Same spinning noise. Whacked it with a hammer, it engaged then turned key off. Needed some ether. To be expected for her age. Now she is warming up, shuttle rarely works in the cold until she warms up for half hour or so. Way better than shoveling. Wed will be worse here in the NE. Thanks as always for the help.