Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630

ueww40

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I have a Cub Cadet LXT-L46 Fab with the Honda GXV630 engine and about 9 months ago I replaced the starter and ever since then more often than not, the starter will just click, click, click and nothing happens and finally it kicks in and spins the engine. Upon a close inspection I realized that the starter was hitting the flywheel tooth on tooth and not slipping of in between the teeth and starting the spinning phase and turning the flywheel. Has anyone ever had anything like this happen on your GXV630 engines. It is an aftermarket starter not OEM, I must say but I talked to the manufacturer of the starter and they say they are unaware of any complaints of that nature and say that the starter is most likely fine, since it does work as intended the second it engages the flywheel. Any thoughts on that? I was thinking sharpening the teeth a bit, but that probably wouldn't be possible, because I am sure all that stuff is hardened.
 

Auto Doc's

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
Sounds like the starter gear is upside down or the wrong tooth count on the gear.
 

sgkent

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
or the battery is weak
 

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
It's possible, or all of the connections need to be cleaned really well with a small wire brush, so the surface contacts are 100%. Voltage and Amperage can do some funny things with even a little bit of corrosion or hazing over.
 

ueww40

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
All of the above I checked and is good. Gear can't be upside down and tooth count is correct, battery is strong and fully charged and all the connections are clean and solid. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that the solenoid as it pushes up the gear towards the flywheel starts turning the starter gear just a little bit too late. I can see the solenoid kicking up the gear and it lands tooth on tooth under the flywheel and that's it. I assume a correctly calibrated solenoid would start turning the gear at about that point if it doesn't do so already from the moment the solenoid pushes the gear up towards the flywheel. Maybe somebody is an expert on starters and can tell me if the gear starts turning a split second before it gets to the flywheel or if it is already turning when it is on the way up. Mine, when it hits tooth on tooth, it just sits there and is not turning yet. If it started turning at that point it would slip into gear and all would be well. When it finally does work, after how many tries, it is because it so happens that the gears just happen to line up right and the starter goes all the way up into the flywheel and spins and starts the engine. I think the easiest way to find out is, I order a new one and see if it does the same thing.
 

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
Please provide a couple of pictures of your starter, there are several different design possibilities
 

sgkent

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
the starter gear should be spinning when it hits the flywheel. If it is not then you either have an electric problem, battery problem, or a bad starter. Or the solenoid could be bad. Put a voltmeter on the battery when you go to start it and see what the battery voltage is doing. If I had a dollar for each time someone insisted a battery was good and it wasn't, I'd be a very rich man. Do the same voltage test again at the starter too to check for resistance or a bad ground.
 

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
What led to the original starter being replaced?

Locate the back of the starter switch and pull the connector and reconnect it a couple of times to scrub the pin contacts clean a little.

The trigger wire from the starter switch to the starter solenoid could be dropping voltage to fully activate the solenoid.

Last ideas I have for now is the new starter solenoid has poor internal contacts, or the starter switch has worn contacts.

Do you have a multi meter? You will need one to track down the exact issue from the sound of things.
 

ueww40

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
sgkent, I think that you are probably the closest to the problem. The starter gear is not spinning when it hits the flywheel but will once the gear moves further up and engages the flywheel. Auto Doc, the original starter was replaced because it was frozen, the replacement was identical to the original. I appreciate all the suggestions but I think I can save myself most of the testing because this has been going on for almost 8 months and the malfunction is known (it lands tooth on tooth and doesn't go in between teeth because it's not spinning yet). If the starter gear is supposed to be spinning when it hits the flywheel, like sgkent said (mine isn't) then I am pretty sure we could call it a starter problem. A new one is on the way. We will know soon. I will certainly keep y'all updated
 

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  • / Starter reluctant to engage flywheel on Honda GXV630
I'll be curious to see what happens. Thanks.
 
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