TO20 Starter Kicks Out When Engine Catches

db4570

Member
My new Fergie TO20 is tucked away for the winter, but I am anticipating trying to get it started when the weather warms up a bit. When I last started it in the cold, it took a bit of cranking. Every time I would crank it and the engine would finally catch for a cycle or two, and then the starter would act like it had disengaged.

I'll try to describe it onomatopoetically: Crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, crank, SPUTTER SPUTTER...WHIRRR! The Whir was the sound of the starter motor spinning, but not connected to anything. And the engine would stop sputtering, and, presumably, stop being cranked.

It seems like the starter gear would engage the flywheel gear OK and crank the engine, but then the gear would disengage when the engine caught and started spinning a little faster for a moment.

The tractor also did this occasionally earlier in the season, during warm weather, but never often enough for me to be concerned about it. In the cold, though, it seemed like it happened continuously and might keep me from getting it started.

So what should I start looking at to diagnose this, as soon as I'm brave enough to go out in the cold?

Thanks, guys.

David
 
Onoma what ickly?
You have to type slowly, cause none of us can read too fast.
The starter is doing what it is suppose to do. the Bendix spring pulls the gear away from the flywheel as it feels the engine spin itself.
The problem is the engine is not staying running. You don't have a starter problem, you have a fuel or ignition problem.
 
(quoted from post at 21:43:51 02/08/17)

onomatopoetically

Thanks, guys.

David

Thank you David, I learned a new word today. Mark Twain once said that there was a word or phrase in the English language to describe anything. This proves his theory. :D :p

Tony is correct, you have a running problem, not a starting problem.

BillL
 
Sorry for the show-offy word. I don't think it's actually real. Thanks for not reporting me to the moderator. :)

What you guys say makes perfect sense. Come spring, I'll have to give it a little tune up, or at least check the plugs. Maybe figure out how to check the timing.

It runs so sweet that I assumed it is in great tune. It ticks over nice and slow and quiet, and throttles up quickly and pulls hard with a throaty rumble. (Geez, just writing that makes me all the more eager for spring!)

It just seems funny that the only time it doesn't run right is at startup. Now that I think about it, timing sounds more like something I should check. It cranks over very slowly, so I can imagine how if the timing is off, it might have a hard time catching more than a spark or two.

Thanks for the help, guys.

David
 

Do you pull out- and kept the choke rod out a bit as starting? These are usually cold blooded things, and a few seconds of babying the choke at first, and I use a spring clothes pin to keep it half choked for a couple minutes or more- depending on weather. When I was a kid old tiimers told me a partial choke never hurts a 'cold' engine. So unless you are in the tropics...
So there is no such word as obomapoetry? Fooled me.
Your are safe. None of us know how to spell moder...whatever...
 

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