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601 starter just spinning, not engaging

J

Jack Massimino

Member
I did some searching and didn"t find what I need. My 601 normally starts right up and runs great after you guys helped me get it re-wired correctly last year. Now when I hit the start button all it does is spin and won"t engage the engine. I took the starter off and hooked it up with jumper cables and all the shaft does is spin. It doesn"t move the gear forward or backward, just spins. A friend at work whose dad used 601"s on their farm many years ago said he thought it sounded like the armature spring. What do you experts (I"m serious) think? Time for a new starter or what?
 
Well if the starter drive is real dirty/greasy that can cause it as can be the drive it self bad or have a broken spring. Or if it does not spin up as fast as it should that too can cause that
 
Clean the starter drive well in a solvent, diesel. Ms, naptha, etc, shaft too, then test, look for damage and debris
 

Sounds like your starter is just fine. If it is spinning fast, the drive is stuck as souNdguy said. If you find the drive is damaged and unrepairable after cleaning it up this site offers a replacement for a 600 that should fit your 601.
 
WOW, you guys are great. I had the starter sitting in the garage and went out there and used brake cleaner since that is my major solvent for cleaning. I sprayed the daylights out of the drive and wiped everything down, blew everything off and re-sprayed it and blew it out again with the air hose. I put it back on the tractor and it fired right up. I don't hang out here a lot because I know very little other than what you guys taught me. I can always count on one or a bunch of you to have the correct answer for me. I greatly appreciate this. Thank you again. Ya saved me some cash.
 
good deal.

contrary to popular belief. oil and grease is not good on that type of starter drive. the oil acts as a drag and she won't spin in.

glad you got her going.
 
Glad to hear you got it going, but did you check the condition of the ring gear on the flywheel when you had the starter out? Worn-out ring gears are a common problem on these old tractors. It's not surprising that the starter drive wasn't moving; it requires the engine to start to retract the drive.

If the problem returns you have a tractor split in your future. The gear itself is only twenty bucks.
 
OK. I didn't check the ring gear. The drive didn't hardly move other than the main shaft spinning until after I cleaned it real well. This was an all of a sudden thing. It would start great. Then I got sick, pneumonia and was down for about a month. Went out to cut grass and just a fast spin on the starter. It went back to normal after a good cleaning of the drive.
 
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