Since new, the Kohler Courage 20 SV600 in my Troy Bilt XP has had a thing where I turn the key, the starter engages, then freezes. A tech once showed me that if I can hand-rotate the flywheel backwards off TDC, it'll get a running start and make it through whatever's putting the squeeze on the engine's cranking. Lately, a YouTube showed me that if I just keep the key in start position and don't let up, the flywheel will eventually scrape past the block and begin turning over normally. And when I say "scrape," that's exactly what it sounds like. Heavy, labored, slow, metal-on-metal scraping.
So... there's supposed to be a gap between the ignition module and the flywheel magnet, and this is exactly where the cranking gets stuck, with the flywheel magnet right opposite the ignition module, but with the magnet in this position, I can't get a business card/feeler gague between the two. It seems like an obvious question, but is this what's causing my frequent starting-freeze situation? Should I back the ignition module far enough from the flywheel magnet to create a small gap so that the magnet can pass unimpeded across the ignition module? If so, how much gap is too much?
So... there's supposed to be a gap between the ignition module and the flywheel magnet, and this is exactly where the cranking gets stuck, with the flywheel magnet right opposite the ignition module, but with the magnet in this position, I can't get a business card/feeler gague between the two. It seems like an obvious question, but is this what's causing my frequent starting-freeze situation? Should I back the ignition module far enough from the flywheel magnet to create a small gap so that the magnet can pass unimpeded across the ignition module? If so, how much gap is too much?