Replacing New Style Bendix

I replaced my old bendix a few years ago with the new style bendix. While starting my 1950 front-mount 8N today, I heard a metallic noise from the starter area followed by a 'clunk' that sounded like a small piece of metal falling into the housing below. I'm guessing it was the small pinion from the end of the bendix falling into the clutch housing. (OK, I will admit, it was my second crank of the engine and I may not have allowed the flywheel to stop turning between starting attempts.) My first thought is to pull the starter and replace the bendix while leaving the part laying in the bottom of the housing assuming it was only the pinion from the end of the bendix. Assuming the majority of the bendix comes out with the starter when I pull it, would anyone go to the trouble of splitting their tractor to fish out a small piece of metal from the clutch housing? FYI, After the metallic 'clunk,' I tried starting my tractor and it was obvious the starter was turning with no fly-wheel engagement. I am planning to install another new style bendix. Thanks for your input!

There is plenty of room for that bendix to ride in the bell housing and it wont hurt a thing, until you have a better reason for splitting the tractor.

I won't leave an old one inside -- You decide for yourself..
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Well, once the starter is out, maybe I can fish a magnet down into the case for the parts to prevent a split. I've split my tractor before but would prefer not doing going to that length. I am a very-part-time farmer and use my 8N to plow and disk 95% of the time. I certainly don't want to cause another problem by leaving parts inside if, in fact, it can cause serious clutch issues.

Well, I decided to leave the bendix gear in the bell housing. You can see in the attached pics that the starter shaft was scored as the piece broke off. I used my Dremel to grind down rough spots and polish the shaft prior to remounting the new bendix. One tip for others that are replacing a starter drive is to use the old starter drive to hold the new one while driving the pin into the shaft. Why squeeze your bendix in a vice if you don't have to? Using this method, I installed the new pin in less than one minute. Since I've done it before, I know the pin looks like it won't fit, but holding it with some needle-nosed pliers and giving the pin a good whack with a hammer soon demystifies how the pin will make it in there. I included some pics of my old bendix so you can see what the failure looked like.

My tractor started right up with no issues. I was somewhat concerned that the old gear would fly out of the bell housing as others have mentioned, but I've read several posts of people leaving starter drive parts in the bell housing. I tried using a magnet on a flexible stick for about an hour to fish out the old parts, but gave up after retrieving only one tooth of the gear.



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