# Kohler Starter Question



## jbennettks (Oct 12, 2016)

Good evening to all. Have a question on a Kohler Inertia Starter. (with my luck is just 2 months out of warranty). When I go to start my garden tractor, it may start fine, or the starter will just spin and not engage the flywheel. Tonight I pulled the engine cover and found the flywheel is good (not missing any teeth) and the pinion gear on the starter is in good shape. Manually I can move the pinion gear up and down just fine. With the pinion gear exposed, when I cranked it the first time, it grabbed the flywheel as it should. Second time, it misbehaved and the pinion gear didn't make it all the way up the flywheel, so just sat there and spun. I sure could use some advice on what might be the issue. Just a FYI, ever since I have had the tractor, it will occasionally make a not so nice noise when it would begin to start. [something like a metal to metal clunk, but would not last very long and the engine would crank ok] Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

The gear maybe binding,due to dirt.
spray the shaft with carb cleaner.
Also, have the battery tested,to make sure it's good.


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## fatjay (Dec 6, 2013)

When i have htat problem with my kohler(and i do have it) i take off the starter and give it power, and make sure everything moves as it should.


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## Aircommuter (Jun 12, 2016)

If the speed of the motor is not fast enough the inertia will not be sufficient to fully engage. Maybe a loss of voltage in the system.


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## MarkRiceNY (May 15, 2016)

*load test battery*

I had the same problem and it drove me crazy. It turned out I had a bad battery, a weak cell for some reason. It was a 6 month old battery and I did not test it as soon as I should have.


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