Repairs Starter Solenoid

[Tom old Murray]

Boobala,

I thank you for YOUR patience, understanding and willingness to help and I am very grateful.

I’ll try to go over sometime this morning and get started on the steps you outlined, pretty sure I follow/understand what to do.

Not trying to question your thinking, but maybe you can explain where I went wrong in mine. Last evening I had 12.5 volts at every stage, battery, solenoid battery post, solenoid trigger post, solenoid output post and at starter post and the starter didn’t turn. To my understanding from the material you have sent me, that circuit being completed should indicate the switch was working correctly— having voltage at the starter should have made it turn, what am I missing here? Also, after I get through the steps you outlined, if it still doesn’t crank/turn over should I wait before putting gas into the intake?

A couple of your suggestions I should have thought about, the known good battery because I don’t know if there was enough amps available to turn the starter, hand spinning the engine and of course bench testing the starter.

Thanks again for your help and I’ll get back with you later.
Tom

 

[EngineMan]

Have you tried the starter on the bench..? if you have power going to it and it will not turn.

 

[Boobala]

Yes even as Engineman says, It looks like your starter may have "went on a looonng vacation", everything is pointing that way, IF you feel everything up to the starter is good, then just pull the starter and test it off the engine, BUT be sure to check the engine is free to rotate, if something in the eng. is locked up, that's good reason to fry a starter ! I'm hoping it's NOT the starter, only because I know you said cash is tight, and from what I've seen online THAT starter is priced up there, of course you might be able to rebuild it or get a cheapy used one somewhere, BUT, lets take it one thing BEFORE the other.

AND don't you worry, I promise I'll drain every cent out of ALL your bank accounts, get you into foreclosure on your house, taking possession of your EVERY vehicle, your family deserting you, and you winding up on HomeLand Security's WatchList !!

Awww Cmon, I'm jus kiddin, .. ya gotta at least smile,

 

[Tom old Murray]

Boobala,

Wow, that is one heck of a promise, it takes all that to get on a HLSWL. I just thought if I buy my grandson a BB gun, ammo for a .22 short single shot rifle or ate broccoli was enough to be on the no-fly HLSWL. As for the rest of your promise: draining the bank account-no big thing, but don’t expect much; foreclose on the house-that means I don’t have to paint it in the spring-how do I loose on that?; family deserting me-late on that one also as my first born son’s wife made that part of the family desert us last year because we voted different than her and didn’t support one of her political issues (something about a pink p__sy hat); what does that leave, oh the vehicles-if you really want this mower I’m sure my son will sell it to you for a small profit plus a large shipping and handling fee.

Now back to work, went to the mower and started through your list, good known battery, jumped to mower battery turned key with only solenoid clicking and then jumped directly to the starter, nothing. Next I took the cowling off and rotating the fly wheel and it turned freely-good no engine seizure.

Started to remove the starter to bench test it, but noticed I could rotate the bottom of the Bendix thereby rotating the starter shaft (somewhere in my past I remembered that also was a way to check a starter). You guess it, turned the key and the darn thing started and ran great until I tried to turn it off and it didn’t. So, because of all the reading material I’ve digested, I started looking and found where I didn’t reconnect the mag ground wire. Good reason why there are disclosures to "not try this at home" on everything nowadays.

Here is my thinking and please let me know if I’m in the ball park, apparently I shorted out a small portion of the armature when I was directly jumping to it in the beginning of all this. Therefore, any time that armature stops at that location, the starter isn’t going to rotate and the engine will not start. However, for at least some unknown period of time, if I rotate the lower part of the Bendix and thereby the starter shaft, we should get a successful start. At some later date, I’ll let my son decide when, we’ll probably go with an aftermarket starter I found for around $35 with free shipping verses an OEM for $85-100, doesn’t appear logical to use the OEM when viewing the age and condition of this mower.

Thanks for all your assistance and for the education, also thanks to the others who have chimed in to help, those effort were also much appreciated. Now, unless someone has another reason, I’ll go back this afternoon and put everything back together, but if this machine hiccups again you will have the pleasure of playing the instructor again.

This issue once again verifies a lifelong saying; it isn’t necessarily the journey as much as it is an adventure.

Thanks again.
Tom

 

[Boobala]

Well Tom, glad ya got it solved, (albeit not entirely,) yeah I would say it's the starter armature too, yeah I checked the price on the starters also, same price ranges you found, the OEM Briggs IS well over $100.00 you know what to do!, while I was checking things out, I ran across more "food" ..( LOL ) I did find a you-tube with a "trick to changing the starter" and some other Briggs info. The Briggs one has the parts manual SPECIFIC to YOUR eng. model, the info. will always ..??? be here on your thread for later reference, I'm glad to have been of assistance along with the other guys, I am REALLY glad you have a good sense of humor, and you're pleasant to work with, Tom, .. you take care, and Happy Holidays if we don't hear from ya for a spell, but don't be stranger, "the light is always on" ..later..Boobala


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii_EavaRhGc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBhYQ91ZBp0

https://shop.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/www-old/support/manuals/results?NTT=460777-2277*