Massey 135 gas, sounds like the starter is dragging on the fly wheel??? Help

sch2046 · Aug 12, 2014

My 135 made a horrible noise coming from the starter area. At first I thought I had a bad bearing and my engine was falling apart. It will start and then it sounds like a grinding between two gears. I shut it down but before I did, I got off to see if I could find the problem area. Is this common and is there an easy fix? How difficult is it to get the starter off, just the 2 bolts holding it to the housing? It looks like there are 2 smaller bolts on the end of the starter housing, wondering if that would be the way to check it out. I have no idea. Thanks for any suggestions you guys my have.
Sean

Coyote machine · Aug 12, 2014

Sounds like the bendix gear of the starter has a weak spring and instead of allowing the gear to return into the starter once it has engaged and spun the flywheel it is staying engaged and not releasing as it should. Remove the bolts from the starter AFTER disconnecting the battery ground cable, at the battery. Once removed look for broken teeth, metal shavings in the starter's gear opening area, then take it to a shop to rebuild it if it needs it. Teeth damage to the flywheel present a different fix.