Briggs and Stratton starter on lawn tractor won’t engage…

Hi, I will be glad to try to help you.

First of all, you CANNOT EVER oil the starter gear assy. This will cause the gear to NOT run up the worm gear.

Next. if the starter is not turning over fast enough, it will not engage the gear.

If you have trouble doing the work yourself, it would be best to have a good small engine mechanic do the work for you.

There are several things that will cause this.

1. Bad battery. Just because the battery may test at 12 volts or more does NOT mean that it has enough amperage

to turn the engine over or run the starter geat up the worm gear. You should take the battery to a GOOD auto-parts store and have them do a LOAD TEST. You need to have AT LEAST 235 to 350 amps to run this correctly. Also if you bought the battery at a discount type store, most of them do NOT have the required 235 - 350 cca that is needed. Also a good many of these batteries are bad right off the shelf.

2. You may have a bad connection at any of the battery cables.... especially the ground where it attaches to the frame.

Remove the cables and clean both the cables and the battery as well as both of the other ends of the cables with a wire brush.

3. Even though the starter turns ... it may still be bad on the inside of the starter and may need to be replaced.

You also may have a burr on the plastic worm that is keeping it from moving all the way up the woprm.

4. Many of the starter gears are mad3e pf PLASTIC! These plastic gears tend to wear out or strip and need to be replaced.

If this is the case, I suggest that you take the entire starter to you best mower repair shop and have them replace the ENTIRE starter gear assy.... this includes the worm and springs as well. DO NOT JUST REPLACE THE GEAR ITSELF ! Most times the reason that the starter gear strips or wears out is because the worm has something wrong with it. The replacement of the gear assy requires special tools in order to replace it correctly.

These are the main things that can cause your issue.

If you need any more help with this, you can contact me here at this question...even after you have given me a GOOD 5 star rating.

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