I have an Ariens swivel wheel walk behind with the above engine. When pulling the recoil starter, I've been noticing a scraping sound coming from the flywheel/screen area. I also noticed the whole plastic housing that sits on top of the engine was loose. After removing the recoil starter and plastic housing (that contains the air filter), I noticed that the stamped metal fan housing underneath had broken flanges in the cover at all 3 points of attachment to the engine. Has anyone else had this problem? I've had this mower for 5 years, but I only use it for trimming about a half hour each week during cutting season. I wouldn't think the fan housing cover should have broken in that length of time. The blade is balanced, so there's no more vibration than usual. The fan housing seems like a cheap part that could be made better. It has to withstand the stress of pulling the recoil starter as the recoil is directly attached to the fan housing. Anyone have this problem?
I had already ordered the housing from Jacks (actually, the part # is 590662812 for the metal housing, with shipping it was $23 and change). I just couldn't believe why it's made so cheap. All 3 bolt flanges were broken as well as a crack in the side of the housing body.
