Desert Panther
New member
I've had this tractor for a few years now, and every once in a while when attempting to start it, the starter would grind against the ring gear & not turn the engine over. When that happened, usually just letting off the key & then trying again would work fine. Last week the starter apparently died, as it would not turn over even when direct wired/jumped. So I found a vendor on eBay that sells a replacement starter for about half of what the dealer wants for one, and 50 bucks cheaper than getting my original starter rebuilt locally. So, I order the eBay starter from a company called "RareElectric". They claim in the ad, that although the starter might appear different in appearance, it will fit & work just like the factory one. Well, I think you know where this post is going......
The newer starter is a reduction drive and bolts in just fine, although the solenoid is in a different location, requiring new electric cables & some tweaking here & there to get everything attached. After it's installed, I go to start the machine & the new starter just grinds against the ring gear, never engages it. I tried manually turning the motor a few degrees in either direction to see if it was just a bad tooth or something on that particular spot on the ring gear. No joy, starter still grinds against ring gear without engaging. Took new starter back out & compared it with old one, everything looks the same as far as bendix height & travel & whatnot. I'm stumped.
Looking thru the hole where the starter bolts up, at the actual ring gear, you can see the leading edge of the teeth are slightly worn/gouged from the old starter's issues. Could the wear pattern on the ring gear prevent the new starter from working? And if so, what is the fix? Is there a way to repair the teeth on the ring gear without disassembling the whole tractor & splitting it in half? Has anybody else out there had this happen? What was your method to fix this issue?
Please advise.
The newer starter is a reduction drive and bolts in just fine, although the solenoid is in a different location, requiring new electric cables & some tweaking here & there to get everything attached. After it's installed, I go to start the machine & the new starter just grinds against the ring gear, never engages it. I tried manually turning the motor a few degrees in either direction to see if it was just a bad tooth or something on that particular spot on the ring gear. No joy, starter still grinds against ring gear without engaging. Took new starter back out & compared it with old one, everything looks the same as far as bendix height & travel & whatnot. I'm stumped.
Looking thru the hole where the starter bolts up, at the actual ring gear, you can see the leading edge of the teeth are slightly worn/gouged from the old starter's issues. Could the wear pattern on the ring gear prevent the new starter from working? And if so, what is the fix? Is there a way to repair the teeth on the ring gear without disassembling the whole tractor & splitting it in half? Has anybody else out there had this happen? What was your method to fix this issue?
Please advise.