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Starter spinning but not engaging flywheel

G

gflattmann

Member
i tried running by merc xr6 in the driveway yesterday and could not get it started. the starter would spinning but would not engage the flywheel. This has happened once or twice before, a mechanic I spoke with said it was the brushes in the starter. So anyway, i decided to remove the starter to take a look at it, upon removing I discovered that the yellow power wire nut was only hand tight. Before I completely take the starter apart, I was thinking of just putting the starter back on the engine and making sure all of my electical connections were clean and tight.

Any suggestions?
 
Take a look at the starter gear that engages the ring gear on the flywheel. It should be free to raise up on the starter shaft to engage the ring gear when the starter is operated. Might just need a drop or two of light oil in there.
 
As Jimway said check the starter drive. Just had the same problem with my garden tractor. Took it off and lubed the shaft and it worked like a champ. If it sits for long periods (like winter) without cranking it, the drive sticks and won't engage. Just be sure to check that the drive gear teeth are in good shape. If they are worn off (you should be able to see if worn), the drive may be heading up but not able to engage the flywheel to spin the motor. Just my humble opinion, as I am sure there many guys here with more knowledge than me, but if the starter is spinning (and you didn't notice it dragging the last times you cranked it) my bet would be that the starter itself is probably ok and your starter drive is either stuck or bad.

The starter drive in my old 61 Impala 283 (first car) used to stick (for some reason a lot of the old Chevy starters would stick - I had to replace a ton of them back in the dark ages) and I would have to climb under it and smack it a few times with a hammer to get it working again. That's old school..... but you might be able to lightly caress it with a hammer to unstick it. Sometimes it doesn't take much to get it moving again.


In the old days, you could replace the starter drives only and save a bunch of time and $$$$.
 
the loose nut could be your problem, if it was me I would set it on the ground and hook jumper cables to it positive on positive a negitive on negitive, vis versa on the positive lead to the abendix that is what will push your abendix up to the flyweel, if it spins and the abendix rises then it is fine, slap it back on and your good to go.
 
Check your charging system as well, you should be getting at least 14-14.5 V off the battery with the motor running. Loose or dirty connections or a weak batery will not provide the amprage needed to get that thing to spin up ingage the gear. You can also buy a brush kit for the starter on-line for about 20 bucks. I did mine last year, took about 20 min to install once I made a sheet metal tool to hold the brushes in place for reassembly.
ALSO.. If you have weak charg it will put a load on your stator and fry that, so its worth checking out, And most time if its not charging, its a 50 dollar rectifier, and they are super easy to change.
Let us know how you make out with it.
 
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