1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine

   / 1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine #1  

nothingbutdarts

New member
Joined
Aug 8, 2024
Messages
3
Tractor
John Deere M
Trying to help a neighbor in his late 80,s with his tractor that he has had for a number of years with no cranking issues, It was running fine, he shut it off and when he later went to restart it, it would not turn the engine over, you can hear the starter spin. It is a 12 volt battery (guessing it was converted to 12 volts before he bought it) I pulled the starter, hooked jumper cables to the starter and used the lever to activate the starter, it seemed to work just fine, the Bendix kicked the drive gear all the way out and the gear turns just fine, I reinstalled it and tried it again, same thing, it will not crank the engine, I believe I hear the gear turning. I tried turning the flywheel a little bit maybe to let the teeth line up, no difference, did that a couple more times with the same result. With the starter out I energized the starter, watched the Bendix kick the drive gear all the way out as far as it can go and while doing that I held a piece of wood hard against the drive gear, I could not get the gear to stop, did this test a couple more times with the same result, then reinstalled the starter tried it again with the same result of not turning the engine over. The drive gear looks good and the flywheel teeth feel good. I then spray painted the drive gear and the shaft the drive gear slides up on, reinstalled the starter, tried the starter again, still no turning of the flywheel, pulled the starter, no sign of the drive gear turning anything, however the drive gear was stuck all the way out on it's shaft (by the paint I applied) in other words the gear pushed all the way out against the housing of the motor.
I am lost and looking for any help/suggestions Please! Or maybe a better sight that has more John Deere traffic.
Thanks for reading my long story!!!
 
   / 1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine #2  
What model 1950 tractor?
 
   / 1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Sorry, it's an M model.
 
   / 1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine #4  
The Bendix may be shot. It sounds like it's engaging the flywheel but incapable of turning it. Normally the Bendix will spin freely one way so it can disengage but lock the other way to turn the engine over. This one sounds like it's not locking.
 
   / 1950 John Deere Starter will not crank the engine
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Took starter to a rebuild shop, a spring in it ended up being broken, guy rebuilt the starter, I installed and it works like new!
Thank You all!
 

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