Flywheel Replacement - Tecumseh engine

[Steve Kraus]

How difficult is it to replace a flywheel on a Tecumseh vertical shaft engine and are any special tools needed? We have one which has a couple of bad sections of gear teeth (used by an electric starter). I have no idea why as the starter gear is plastic.

I'm presuming the gear teeth are integral to the flywheel and therefore metal, unless they somehow add a ring around the outside with the teeth on it. (That would help explain how it could be damaged.)

I can go fetch the engine model number if need be though I think most of these engines are very similar. It's on a Lawn-Boy walk-behind mower.

[Jules Richardson]

Could be debris getting in there and shearing them off - or someone wedged the flywheel with a screwdriver while trying to remove whatever's at the other end of the engine (blade, presumably) and sheared the teeth.

I suspect it's a case of undoing an single bolt and gently easing the flywheel off (where 'gently' might mean a few taps with a cloth-wrapped hammer :-)

I suppose it's possible that replacement teeth could be welded on and fashioned into shape with a grinder, which might be less expensive than a whole new flywheel (and could be done in-place) - it'd wear the plastic starter pinion faster than by design, but I think they're only a couple of bucks normally.

cheers

Jules

[JIMMIE]

Pretty much falling off a log easy with the recommended puller. The place you buy the flywheel from should have a book and the puller.

Jimmie

[Jon Danniken]

Hold the flywheel up with a screwdriver/pry bar, and rap the end of the crankshaft with a hammer. If the threads on the crankshaft go to the end, you'll want to screw on a coupling nut so as not to mash the threads (they sell a tool for this if you insist).

Jon

[Bob Villa]

...or you can put the flywheel nut back-on (75%) and hit that instead.

[DerbyDad03]

I made a flywheel puller for my Tecumseh by drilling three holes in a piece of 1/4" steel plate so that the holes lined up with the holes in the flywheel.

I threaded nuts onto the bolts, slipped them through the plate and tightened them into the threaded holes in the flywheel. A few turns of the nuts and the flywheel pulled right off.

[clare]

Loosen the flywheel nut, put a couple of levers under the flywheel to pull it up, then smartly crack the top of the shaft with a (brass) hammer, and the flywheel should pop off the taper. There are puler tools available as well, but I've had just as good luck with the hammer.

[clare]

Except flywheels are still pretty pletiful out there, so replacing the whole flywheel is still the preferred fix.

[JIMMIE]

...or get a pull start for it.

Jimmie

[hrhofmann]

What other said, except it is MUCH easier to pry up while a second person does the hammering on the end of the crankshaft, unless you have 3 arms?