Did I ruin my starter?

[gpete17]

I have an older John Deere RX75 riding mower. I tried to jump start it with my pick up truck. I accidentally hooked pos to neg post and tried several times and the starter spun but didn't turn the engine. I realized what I'd done and hooked jumper cables correctly. Starter tries to turn engine but can't seem to. Would reversing cables have ruined the starter? What can I do to see if starter is bad before buying one?

 

[KennyV]

WELCOME to LMF...
Reverse polarity didn't do the Battery OR the charging system any good... If the charging system is fused, you could have blown the fuse... if not you may find that the system now has a bad rectifier...
So check the mower battery & charging system when you get it running...

The starter itself will have spun backwards... that will not necessairly harm it, But it can jam the bendix gear & spring on the nose of the starter... Remove the starter and check that the gear will spiral up the shaft when you turn it by hand... if not you should see the problem on that gear... Post back with what you find, include a picture or two if you can, everyone likes to see pictures... :smile:KennyV