Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.

Heybucky

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
4
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Hello all,

I have an old Castel Garden TC12.5/102 Ride On law mower that I got second hand. It's worked great, but the other day while I was mowing it stopped mid cut and when I went to restart it the engine made a loud grinding noise. Any idea where I should start to look? The battery is fully charged as at the beginning I thought maybe there wasn't enough juice to turn it over. Please see attached a link to the video.

Thanks so much for any advice/help

Bucky
 

ILENGINE

Lawn Pro
Joined
May 6, 2010
Threads
39
Messages
9,862
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Sounds like the plastic starter gear is broke and not turning the engine. I would take my hand and try to turn the metal screen on top of the flywheel before proceeding to make it still turns and not locked up.
 

Heybucky

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
4
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Sounds like the plastic starter gear is broke and not turning the engine. I would take my hand and try to turn the metal screen on top of the flywheel before proceeding to make it still turns and not locked up.
Ok, Thanks a lot! I'll give that a try!
 

Heybucky

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
4
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Sounds like the plastic starter gear is broke and not turning the engine. I would take my hand and try to turn the metal screen on top of the flywheel before proceeding to make it still turns and not locked up.
Update: Took off the engine cover and saw straight away that the starter gear was grinded down to nothing. Ordered another one and it arrives Friday. Thanks a lot ILENGINE! You taking the time to respond saved me a lot of headache! Appreciate it!
 

Heybucky

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
4
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
So, the starter gear arrived... It took a bit of work to get the pin out of the shaft but I was finally able to. I attached the starter to the chassis, turned the key, and then nothing. It seems there is some kind of short, because when I turn the key half way, the lights to the dash came on. However, when I fully turn the key to the crank the engine, everything goes dead until I disconnect and reconnect the negative battery cable, then the process just repeats itself. The lights of the dash turn on at half a turn, then turn off when I try to start the motor and there is no power. Any idea where I went wrong?

Thanks a lot for the continued help!
 

GreesyDog

Forum Newbie
Joined
Sep 17, 2021
Threads
0
Messages
1
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Check for an inline fuse going to the starter. Or it might be a safety issue. PTO off? Brakes on? Pressure switch in seat?
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
  • / Ride on Mower making grinding noise when trying to start.
Get a booster cable & touch the battery + to the starter +
If all is good engine will crank
Better than average chance the solenoid was bad so it did not turn off
This prevents the pinion from retracting fully and will eat the gear in no time flat .
Probably was the root cause .
 
Top