Kawasaki v-twin won't start - Ideas

[Beltzington]

It seems most of my repair work is either on trailer lighting or lawn equipment, I have a JD LX279 Lawn Tractor with a Kawasaki 17HP engine with about 600hrs on the Hobbs, I replaced the starter 2-years ago.

Engine started and ran fine after being in the shed all winter, changed blades and parked it in the garage to use the next day. Went to start it and the starter would not turn-over the engine, just spun, here is what I have done:

- Battery charged and holds 13.1 volts, also jumped it to a running vehicle
- Pulled starter, it spins fine and throw-out engages
- Disconnected the mower deck v-belt from the engine and engine can be easily manually turned over
- I'm energizing the starter solenoid directly from the battery to eliminate any safety interlocks

Starter only spins, engine does not move, does not even sound like the flywheel is being engaged by the starter gears.

Any thoughts appreciated, do not want to replace another starter.

ps. The engine flywheel gear teeth are very slanted but they do not look excessively worn and I have no idea what they looked like when new.

 

[tomplum]

Is the battery hooked up properly? A reversed polarity and the starter spins backwards. Beyond that maybe service the terminals on the solenoid and check for what voltage you have when the key is hit and the ground is solid.

 

[Rock Crawler]

The starter relay is not throwing out the star gear. If the motor is audibly spinning but the gear is not throwing out to grab the flywheel.... the relay (bendix) is no longer doing it's thing. Especially if it is not throwing the gear eve with jumper cables to it. That pretty much negates the weak battery argument.

If the starter tried to spin and threw out the gear to the flywheel and stopped with a thud, the engine is resisting motion for some reason. But this is not as you described it.

You described a bad starter bendix/relay.

 

[Beltzington]

The starter relay is not throwing out the star gear. If the motor is audibly spinning but the gear is not throwing out to grab the flywheel.... the relay (bendix) is no longer doing it's thing. Especially if it is not throwing the gear eve with jumper cables to it. That pretty much negates the weak battery argument.

If the starter tried to spin and threw out the gear to the flywheel and stopped with a thud, the engine is resisting motion for some reason. But this is not as you described it.

You described a bad starter bendix/relay.

When removed from the engine and energized the starter gear quickly snaps to the full out position and stays there until I disconnect power. When hooked back up on the engine it just spins, it kind-of sounds like it might hit the flywheel gear but will not remain engaged. If the starter was old I would just suck it up and replace it, but it is only 2-years old which means it has been cycle maybe a couple hundred times. They run about $150 dollars so I would rather not jump the gun on replacing it. Thanks.

 

[texasranger556]

What do you mean by "slanted teeth"? Can you post pictures of the gear on the starter and flywheel? If you manually rotate the engine 20 degrees or so does the sound change when trying to engage the starter?

 

[Beltzington]

What do you mean by "slanted teeth"? Can you post pictures of the gear on the starter and flywheel? If you manually rotate the engine 20 degrees or so does the sound change when trying to engage the starter?

Sorry I was not very clear, The starter gears are beveled on the engagement edge. I thought this was wear and tear but I found a picture of a new gear and apparently that is how they leave the factory. Also the flywheel gears have some minor wear and tear but in most places straight sharp edges.

To answer you question, "no" I have turned the gear to many positions and results are the same, I do not believe the gear mesh is the problem.

 

[texasranger556]

You've done most of the things I would suggest. Seems most likely it's something within the starter; worn brush, burned armature, damaged magnets, or worn bearing perhaps. I'd open it up and see.

Only other odd ball thing I can think is a loose flywheel that sheared the key. But you should still see the fan spinning.

 

[Beltzington]

Hi Capt. obvious here, installed a new starter and engine started right up, go figure. Still not sure if it was the solenoid, starter motor or starter gear causing the problem but at the end-of-the-day guess it does not matter. Thanks for your replies. If anyone is wants an aftermarket starter the one I bought off Amazon was 1/4 the price of the OEM and seems to be of comparable quality. The vendor was DB Electrical.

 

[texasranger556]

Glad you got it going! It's the only thing that really makes sense based on the symptoms you described.

I have a DB electrical starter on my truck (6.0 diesel) and bought one for my car for when it dies. They seem to be decent quality for a great price, and no core charge.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Hi Capt. obvious here, installed a new starter and engine started right up, go figure. Still not sure if it was the solenoid, starter motor or starter gear causing the problem but at the end-of-the-day guess it does not matter. Thanks for your replies. If anyone is wants an aftermarket starter the one I bought off Amazon was 1/4 the price of the OEM and seems to be of comparable quality. The vendor was DB Electrical.

Thanks for the tip and telling us what it took to fix it. I believe I have the same Kawi motor on my deere rider.