starter or flywheel ?

[gatorkiter]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and hope you guys can help me and vice versa.

I have a Walker finish mower, 25 HP with a 54" deck. It has a Kohler Command Pro 25 engine. Sometimes, when I attempt to start the engine, it makes a loud grinding noise, without the engine turning over. One time it would not turn the engine at all.

So I removed the starter, and the small gear on the end looked perfect. When I tested it, the starter ran fine and the gear popped out perfect. The flywheel was hard to see, but looked like it was OK. I turn the engine over and checked the whole flywheel. There was a small amount of wear on some of the teeth, but didn't look like it was bad enough to stop it from turning over.

So I re-installed the starter after putting a little gear lube on the gear and it was fine for about a week, then the grinding has started again.

Do I need to replace the flywheel?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[oldnslo]

No on replacing the flywheel. The bendix on your starter is getting sticky which will cause it to not engage properly before it starts to spin. These should not be greased since the grease attracts dirt.