TO30 Starter Drive Won't Disengage

I'm on my second starter, third starter drive (Bendix). None disengage when the engine starts. Everything looks like it should work. I'm using an auto type starter solenoid but tried bypassing it without any luck. Any ideas?

As equipped from the factory originally it did not have a starter solenoid. Sounds as someone mickey moused it to try to make it work rather than doing it correctly. I suggest getting the correct Ferguson Service Manual and a Parts book would also help. When hooked up properly and correctly tuned up these engines start very quickly. I like to say if your engine turns over and not running by three revolutions you need to find where the problem is.

Here is some info from an original Parts Book:

I have no experience on this Engine, however, I would be checking the condition of all TEETH on the FYWHEEL:

I would also check and verify the POWER is in deed off to the STARTR, once the engine is running:

Bob...

Really all that the switch does is turn the Starter on, but the safety switch is better because it is safer
Have you lubricated the starter armature where the Pinion slides, if you have that could be your trouble, you should wash it off in some gasoline and run it dry. Is the Bush worn in the end cap of the starter that goes over the top of the Flywheel, this would cause the shaft to run out of alignment. Have you checked the teeth on the Flywheel, are they damaged or worn. Every tooth should have a small lead-in on the front edge, if it hasn't then it should be changed.
Are the springs ok on the Pinion and shaft, unless they are the Pinion will not get the necessary push back out of mesh. John(UK) [email protected]

1. Will using the original starter switch make the starter drive disengage? I don't know if I can make a factory switch work, there are parts missing. I bought this as a basket case and have been rebuilding it for over a year. Maybe someday I'll look into it.

2. This is a rebuild with a new ring gear and I've checked the alignment and depth measurements. I started it with a jumper cable which I immediately removed so there was no power going to the starter motor.

3. The two starters were new from the box. The first one wouldn't turn the motor over but the second one worked great except for the disengage problem. I bought a new starter drive and have now tried all three drives on the good starter. I've tried with and without oil.

4. I'm sitting here with a nice looking tractor that starts and sounds good but I can't let it run because of the starter drive. Any more ideas?

I cannot answer all you questions, but I do know that I bought a brand new starter drive for my TO30 when my starter drive broke.

With all due respect for the manufacturer and seller, the new starter drive was, um, not quite up to par. It would bind up and didn't move well. I ended up taking it apart and using pieces from it to make the original work again. (They weren't made exactly the same---hence the problems with the new one--but they were close in the particular aspect that my original had broken so I managed to make one good working starter drive.)

All this to say-- I know you have tried three, but it is still possible all three are defective. That said, odds are at least one would work. So...

Let me (or, hopefully, people more knowledgeable than me) keep thinking.

Any pictures? Maybe we'd see something that is wrong with the starter drives? Or the ring gear?

A TO30 is a great tractor. Don't give up.

Auto solenoid can be bypassed by simply connecting a 12V jumper cable from one large
stud to the other one. That will by pass the solenoid. Ignore the smaller studs.
Once the engine is spinning the starter drive should get shoved back into the park
position in the starter, ready for the next time.
When you bypass the solenoid, make sure your out of gear.

First, you need to determine if the starter is being held in electrically or mechanically.

Have the necessary tool ready, start the engine and quickly remove the cable from the starter. If it draws
a spark, and the starter disengages, there is an electrical problem. Either the solenoid is internally
welded together (bad solenoid) or it's being held in electrically (bad wiring).

The other cause can be mechanical. The starter drive is designed to spiral into the flywheel gear and lock
in until the engine cranks and spins it up to enough speed to centrifugally release the lock. This is to
prevent nuisance disengagement until the engine is actually running. Try carefully bringing up the RPM a
little and see if it will disengage. If it won't, bad starter drive. If all the replacements are coming
from the same manufacturer, possibly all are defective. Might try a different supplier.

How does the starter sound when it is cranking? If it's grinding, sounds rough, look at the depth of
engagement. Do some measuring, look for evidence, wear patterns, etc. Possibly the drive is extending too
deep and hitting the front of the flywheel, or the drive can't retract far enough to disengage. This can be
caused by the starter assembled wrong, wrong starter, or the crankshaft thrust bearings are letting the
flywheel move too far forward. Check the endplay on the crank, should be only a few thousandths.

Follow up. Thanks for the advice folks. I opened the starter again trying to understand exactly how it worked and, by hand, worked the movable portion of the newest drive hard each way and got it to travel farther back than it had gone before. There may have been a piece of foreign matter keeping it from locking back. The starter is back on the tractor and has worked correctly five times in a row so I think I have it fixed. The engine runs smooth and I'm looking forward to putting it to work, though the first paint scratch is going to be traumatic.

(quoted from post at 14:24:16 03/01/16) ... the first paint scratch is going to be traumatic.

Click to expand...

Just whack the hood or a fender before you back out of the shed, and get it over with... :wink:

Thanks for the follow-up. Glad to hear you got it fixed.

How about a photo? (Before that first scratch, that is!)

Have you checked the number of teeth on the Starter Pinion, there are 2 different types and diameters, so mit is possible that could cause it...John(UK)