MF35 broken starter and snowed in!

[twosocks90]

We got buried last night by snow and high winds. When I tried to start the MF35 utility (gas), I heard a clunk and then after that the starter just spins without engaging anything.

I pulled the starter and this is what I see. Am I missing the gear drive from the starter shaft or is something else going on here?

 

[Doofy]

Yes, the bendix teeth do appear to be missing.

 

[twosocks90]

I located a replacement starter drive at NAPA and someone is picking it up for me. I'll have to walk to his house in order to get it from him

Here's the question -- where did the broken gear go? Is it safely in the bottom of the oil pan or do I need to disassemble further in order to find it?

It must have broken into at least a couple of pieces and then fallen off the shaft, right?

 

[travlitt]

I located a replacement starter drive at NAPA and someone is picking it up for me. I'll have to walk to his house in order to get it from him

Here's the question -- where did the broken gear go? Is it safely in the bottom of the oil pan or do I need to disassemble further in order to find it?

It must have broken into at least a couple of pieces and then fallen off the shaft, right?

It wouldn't be in the oil pan. The fly wheel is external to the engine oil pan.

 

[Doofy]

More than likely it just split in half. You may be able to fish it out of the clutch housing with a magnet.

 

[shaeff]

There’s a plate with four bolts on it on the underside of the clutch housing. Remove that and you can look right up inside. My bet is that the starter gear pieces are laying at the bottom of the bell housing and when you pull that four-bolt cover, they’ll drop out.

 

[twosocks90]

It's back together and running. I didn't even try to find the broken part, just put it together and cleared the snow. Once the weather is better I will drop the clutch cover plate and see what I find.

As soon as the weather breaks, I also need to put the tire chains on. This heavy wet snow is just too hard to move through!

Thanks for the help.

 

[Doofy]

Thanks for the update. Glad you are back up and running.

 

[twosocks90]

Back in business. Just finished cleaning up what the road grader put across our driveway again.

I gotta say, for being nearly 50 years old, this is still a very useful machine. A little rough around the edges and not very pretty, but she gets the job done.

 

[shaeff]

Nice, nearly identical to my machine. How was it pulling the starter with the power steering lines in the way? I need to replace the bendix on mine, but figured I’d wait til warmer weather. Sometimes the starter doesn’t catch, gotta press the start button a few times til it does.