I've got a major puzzler here.
Tractor is a 2015 1538 HST with 135 hours. I bought it as a repo back in December. I've put about 15 hours on it. All of the fluids and filters have been changed with the exception of the front axle fluid - on my list of to do's.
For the last few engine starts, there was a chattering noise coming from the left side of the engine which would stop after a few seconds. Wasn't obvious where the noise was coming from. Last time i used the tractor, the starter was intermittent, turn key to start, starter would whine, but not engage the flywheel. Next time starter would engage and motor would start. Next attempt it wouldn't. Also noticed that the clutch freeplay had gone way out of adjustment.
Well, started to pull the starter out and all sorts of crap started to fall out of the opening. Dirt, seeds and fur. Somehow mice got up into the clutch housing area. I cleaned all the crap out of the starter nose and bendix area and there was a lot of it. Kept thumping the starter on the workbench and stuff kept falling out. Finally stuff stopped falling out. Shaft that the starter gear slides/spins on has a blue discoloration, so it got hot at one time. Gear spins freely. Took it into O'Reilly's and it tested ok. I inspected the teeth on the flywheel and all looks ok. I loosened up the cover plate underneath and then used compressed air through the starter mount opening to blow whatever stuff I could out of the clutch area. And a lot of stuff came out, sand, dirt, seeds and fur. Put the starter back in and same problem, starter spins but does not engage the flywheel. I took the starter back out, reconnected the wiring and spun the starter where I could see the operation of the the starter gear. All appears to work normally, the bendix drives the gear forward and it spins. Gear teeth on the starter looks fine, teeth on the flywheel look fine.
So after the fact, I now understand where the chattering noise was coming from after engine start. The starter gear was staying engaged with the flywheel after engine start cause all the crap in the starter was not allowing the bendix to release.
So I have some questions...
What is wrong?
How are mice getting up in there?
Where is best place to buy a starter? But current starter appears to work like it should.
Could there be damage to the flywheel gear teeth that I'm not seeing?
Thanks for all thoughts and ideas on this. Starter should/does work - but it doesn't.
Lowell
Tractor is a 2015 1538 HST with 135 hours. I bought it as a repo back in December. I've put about 15 hours on it. All of the fluids and filters have been changed with the exception of the front axle fluid - on my list of to do's.
For the last few engine starts, there was a chattering noise coming from the left side of the engine which would stop after a few seconds. Wasn't obvious where the noise was coming from. Last time i used the tractor, the starter was intermittent, turn key to start, starter would whine, but not engage the flywheel. Next time starter would engage and motor would start. Next attempt it wouldn't. Also noticed that the clutch freeplay had gone way out of adjustment.
Well, started to pull the starter out and all sorts of crap started to fall out of the opening. Dirt, seeds and fur. Somehow mice got up into the clutch housing area. I cleaned all the crap out of the starter nose and bendix area and there was a lot of it. Kept thumping the starter on the workbench and stuff kept falling out. Finally stuff stopped falling out. Shaft that the starter gear slides/spins on has a blue discoloration, so it got hot at one time. Gear spins freely. Took it into O'Reilly's and it tested ok. I inspected the teeth on the flywheel and all looks ok. I loosened up the cover plate underneath and then used compressed air through the starter mount opening to blow whatever stuff I could out of the clutch area. And a lot of stuff came out, sand, dirt, seeds and fur. Put the starter back in and same problem, starter spins but does not engage the flywheel. I took the starter back out, reconnected the wiring and spun the starter where I could see the operation of the the starter gear. All appears to work normally, the bendix drives the gear forward and it spins. Gear teeth on the starter looks fine, teeth on the flywheel look fine.
So after the fact, I now understand where the chattering noise was coming from after engine start. The starter gear was staying engaged with the flywheel after engine start cause all the crap in the starter was not allowing the bendix to release.
So I have some questions...
What is wrong?
How are mice getting up in there?
Where is best place to buy a starter? But current starter appears to work like it should.
Could there be damage to the flywheel gear teeth that I'm not seeing?
Thanks for all thoughts and ideas on this. Starter should/does work - but it doesn't.
Lowell
