[donmac]

DB electric there starter been working great on my gator for 3 yrs. and it gets started 20 times a day for 200 days a year! cost less than $100 jd price was over $700

 

[donmac]

my gator starter would spin without engaging flywheel and then it would start! I pulled starter 3-4 times over the period of 2 years and cleaned up brushs and lubed everything and it would work for a couple weeks until it would start doing the same thing again! I replaced it with the DB and never had another issue! touch wood.
I think the contacts in the starter solenoid get old/ worn from arcing and the brushs arent getting proper current!

 

[donmac]

you don't need to disconnect it to test for voltage! better not to disturb those terminals just testing,possibility of damaging solenoid!
you could always connect a known good battery to jumper cables and jump right to that braided terminal with the ground cable attached to frame! starter motor should spin. then move the positive to hot solenoid terminal and jumper the ignite terminal, motor should crank or starter solenoid is bad!

 

[donmac]

definately cause a problem when the bendix doesn't return, the starter doesn't have time to build enertia before engaging the flywheel!
I once saw a friends double garage door opener chain with slack and mentioned that it's pretty loose and he replied lets the motor build some speed before hitting the load, makes some sense or just too lazy to get up there and adjust it!

 

[donmac]

I thought you'd have to pull the lever out first! hopefully it didnt bend! that starter and solenoid is $75 at DB! if i had to pay JD price I'd likely have a go at it to repair but my time is worth more than the $90 that would cost me with tax! I just spent $200+ on jd tie rod ends and $192 on a group51 battery! the starter price seems like a good deal !

 

[donmac]

a pinion that doesn't retract won't have anything to do with electrical issues! bendix drives rely on the flywheel overspeed to spin the pinion back! lever pinions rely on a spring! what causes them not to retract is usually a shimming problem with the pinion/flywheel teeth or poor starter alignment, sometimes this is aftermarket housings not being built to proper spec.
and your correct about once the engine starts it will likely vibrate the pinion out, but there's a chance it may take too long and overspeed the starter which will shorten it's life!

 

[donmac]

I had a starter in a gator which was acting up just spinning and not engaging the flywheel! I pulled it apart and lubed it about 3-4 times. it would work good for a week then act up again! I replaced it with a starter from DB electric, very low price maybe $70 [jd was $600] have had good results, gets started maybe 20-30 times a day every day all summer!
what i have had bad luck with is aftermarket starters for 6.5 diesels, they just don't fit right and you risk cracking the block,snapping bolts or tearing up a ring gear!
if a starter sounds bad starting there's something wrong, unless its an old mopar!
if you were getting 9.4 volts at the starter while it was engaged I can understand that , the smaller tractors don't have much of a battery in them! I check the voltage with the starter disconnected, if i saw 9 volts , then i think you have a problem other than the starter!