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John Deere 318 Starter problem

1527 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  budfan4
Ok I have a JD 318 with an Onan P218G engine. I took the mower and the engine all apart to clean it really good and to repaint the parts that needed to be painted. I put it all back together turned the key and the starter grinds now. It barely turns the engine over. Its just a very loud grind. I put it on correctly and everything and it was working fine when I took the engine apart.
If anyone could help me with this I would greatly appreciate it.
Jamason
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Did you take the starter apart and clean it and lube it? If you greased the helix on the starter shaft, it will collect dirt and not allow the pinion gear to move far enough into the ring gear causing a grinding noise and not turning the engine over. The helix should only be lubed with dry lubricant. Also, there are shims between the solenoid and the starter housing. If you lost the shims, you might get the same result.
Before you tear the stater apart, I would check for good ground, especially since you just painted some parts.
I had the same result after I rebuilt my engine. As it turned out, I didn't pay attention
to the wiring. I had the starter improvement kit installed and didn't know about it. I accidentally bypassed the kit and ran the ignition through the key. It wouldn't hardly turn the engine over. I then did some research and figured out I had the improvement kit. I switched two (?) wires and it was back to normal. Sure was cheaper (and easier) than a new starter.
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