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Hi guys! saw some good threads using the search here, but nothing quite to solve my problem.

A couple months ago, my Toro 20332 found a metal spike on a railroad tie in my back yard. It instantly killed my mower, and i was never able to get it to start. The blade would come loose trying to start it. After some research, i found out i may have sheared off the pin to the blade assembly hub underneath.

Sure did! And thankfully a good friend had one of these mowers sitting in his garage for parts. I replaced the blade assembly, and mower backfired and spurted a bunch, never starting.

After doing some reading, i found the cylinder may be full of oil and gas. I pulled the plug and turned over the engine a very great amount, pulled the carb apart and cleaned it, inspected 4 week old air filter.

Now the mower starts, but after several knocking noises and 5-6 pulls. Once its running, it sounds brand new. I proceeded to mow the yard with it, and it did fine without regards to the 5-6 pulls it takes to start it. The knocking noise also scares me. Anyone have a clue what this might be? The crankshaft appears to be true, but i dont have a better way to test it other than a visual inspection.

Sorry for the long post

Have you checked for a sheared flywheel key? They are "made" to be sheared to prevent damage to the rest of the engine. When an engine is running @ 3600 RPM, and is suddenly stopped by a RR spike, the flywheel's momentum keeps rotating and shears the key rather than something else. This almost acts like a shock absorber. Many time I have almost broke my arm when the engine kicks back because of a sheared key and being out of time (sheared FW key)

chance123 said:

Have you checked for a sheared flywheel key? They are "made" to be sheared to prevent damage to the rest of the engine. When an engine is running @ 3600 RPM, and is suddenly stopped by a RR spike, the flywheel's momentum keeps rotating and shears the key rather than something else. This almost acts like a shock absorber. Many time I have almost broke my arm when the engine kicks back because of a sheared key and being out of time (sheared FW key)

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That was to be my next conquest, but I figured since I did get it to start, it would have been okay. Should I pull the flywheel off and look?

EDIT: I do have a nice bruise on the right side of my chest from this too lol.

Also, would the flywheel still somehow crank the shaft even if the key is busted? I dont entirely understand i guess.

Orv said:

That was to be my next conquest, but I figured since I did get it to start, it would have been okay. Should I pull the flywheel off and look?

EDIT: I do have a nice bruise on the right side of my chest from this too lol.

Also, would the flywheel still somehow crank the shaft even if the key is busted? I dont entirely understand i guess.

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Absolutely! You "will" more than likely find a sheared FW key.

chance is 100 % correct, it may have just moved slightly causing your issue. remove the bolt and cup that hold the flywheel on and take a peek at the shear pin to see how far it has moved.