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I have a 277 AWS John Deere. Replaced the starter. The solenoid spins the Bendix but does not engage the flywheel. What is my problem?

The Bendix & drive pinion are service replacement items as they wear over time.
Using spray lubes like WD 40 on them makes them worse.
Is this a new problem or as it been getting worse over time ?

To test the mowers electrical system, first try to jump the starter directly off the mowers battery.
Connect the + first to the starter then connect the - to a good grounding point near the starter motor.
I use the oil drain plug.

If it still does not crank the engine, do the same but use you car battery.
Still no joy and the starter is definately the problem.

Most starters that get replaced are perfectly good and it is the mowers electrical system at fault and in particular the ground connections.

Welcome..

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move this thread over to our John Deere section.

jmtaylor42 said:

I have a 277 AWS John Deere. Replaced the starter. The solenoid spins the Bendix but does not engage the flywheel. What is my problem?

Click to expand...

I have a full charge on the battery. Plenty of cranking amps. The starter is new(out of the box). Could the ignition switch be bad? Wiring appears to be good.

When power (12 volts) is supplied to the starter, the Bendix should pop out as the starter spins.

You may want to bench test the new starter...


May want to load test the battery, voltage alone doesn't cut it. Could have 12.8 volts sitting and with a load put on it, drops down significantly.

jmtaylor42 said:

I have a full charge on the battery. Plenty of cranking amps. The starter is new(out of the box). Could the ignition switch be bad? Wiring appears to be good.

Click to expand...

You could have a 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Amp battery connected to your mower.
If the bloody ground is bad then it still won't crank the engine because the AMPS can not get to the starter.

If you want help, please do what your are asked to do and post the results.
If you want to argue then let me know so I can go help some one who actually wants to be helped, your decision.

You were given 2 test to do back in post # 2 and even the reason for doing them.
We do not need to know if the battery is new, starter is new or your undies are new it makes no difference other than the possibility that you bought a really cheap starter off the web which was cheap because it came from a batch of faulty starters that were supposed to go to landfill.
We need to know if the problem is in the
Battery
Battery leads
Starter
Mower wiring.
The 2 tests that would determine this you were asked to do would have done this and taken about as long to do as your post refuting them.

The No 1 rule when diagnosing a problem is ASSUME NOTHING & SUSPECT EVERYTHING TILL PROVEN OTHERWISE.

In the time I have been running Berts only 2 of the 400 odd cases where a starter had been replaced actually had a faulty starter in the first place.
nearly all of the people who forked out $ 100 to $ 200 Aust were very angry when they realised they wasted all that money and some became quite agressive & abusive .
It is no fun finding out you have been a fool and even worse when you find out you have been an expensive fool.

And to answer your final question, if the solenoid is closing and energising the starter then the only other item which could be faulty is the solenoid.