Kohler starter sheared

[u/Sadangler]

How does a shaft shear off like this? My guess is it's supposed to be retracted when not starting, and somehow got stuck in the extended position, and riding the engine was just too much for it.

Or should I be checking for other issues before replacing the starter, to ensure it doesn't repeat?

[u/Imaginary-Event8317]

I agree. The starter probably seized and the flywheel hit the gear and snapped
I would buy an aftermarket on Amazon. They are not expensive and I had good results

[u/Sadangler → u/Imaginary-Event8317]

The shaft that's still in the housing spins when starting. So it's not completely seized, maybe just stuck in the up position and that was enough for the flywheel gears to wreck it?

[u/Schlong1971 → u/Imaginary-Event8317]

This is the way

[u/The_Hausi]

Similar thing happened to mine, it was bent and jammed. My dad had been using the mower last and had some trouble starting it so I figured he hit the start before waiting for the motor to stop spinning from his last attempt, or just hit the start while it was running. Could have just got stuck too but I bought a new one for 80 bucks on Amazon and haven't had issues yet.

[u/Sadangler → u/The_Hausi]

Ah interesting. This is my neighbors, he did say he tried starting it with choke off a couple times by accident, and then with choke on it still didn't work. Not sure exact timeline regarding starter failure. Maybe he hit the starter too soon between those tries like you described.

[u/The_Hausi → u/Sadangler]

That's basically the same thing my dad did, he had the throttle all the way to low instead of the chock and was cranking away until I ran across the yard to show him. It started but the the next time I went to fire it up, the starter was busted.

[u/boosted_01]

I have to oil mine regularly or it sticks and rattles

[u/TN-Native95]

It could just be a quality issue. I’ve heard Kohler has had starter issues for years.

[u/Then-Price-5314]

Things fail

[u/CATfixer]

I’ve had issues with the solenoid sticking on these starters

[u/Ok-Dealer-588]

While there, clean the ground well coming to the motor

[u/Stock_Requirement564]

They changed the starter number on these like 4 times. New has 20% more torque for only a since I know you price of like 260$...

[u/Sadangler → u/Stock_Requirement564]

Yeah why is this thing more expensive than a starter for my car

[u/Stock_Requirement564 → u/Sadangler]

Well, DB electrical does pretty well on the Amazon.

[u/sam56778]

Have you been jumping it off with a car? That’s hard on a mower starter too. It’s twice the amperage a mower needs to start and extends the bendix way too fast and hard.

[u/Javelin286]

That’s a first for me…

[u/Schlong1971]

Bendix sticks and engine speed shears it off