I have a white riding lawn mower with a 15 hp briggs & stratton engine. Sorry I don't have specs on engine right now but can get tomorrow. I got the mower running and drove it about 10 feet then it died. Would not turn over very well after that. I noticed that the gear on top of the starter was engaged up and into the flywheel. My question is wouldn't this gear go back down either after starting the mower or after turning it off?? I manually lowered it down and moved it around to a different position and depending on how I turn it I can get the engine to either 1. do nothing or barely start to turn or 2. turn over but not fire, however only will turn a couple times. I am assuming the starter may be bad. Am I correct in this assumption or should I look for another cause?? Thank you.

Rick, May 2008

my mower was working fine until i decided to wash all the grass off of it. then when i tried to start engine all i get is a clicking noise.
what would be the fix for this?

Thxs
Tom

Tom, July 2015

It is the 'bendix' gear on the starter motor that is causing the jamming. As the starter spins quickly, the bendix gear is shot up into the flywheel which it spins, hopefully starting the motor. Once the motor has spun, the bendix gear then returns to its rest position, ready for the next time. I think your starter motor isn't spinning fast enough; give it another try with a fully charged battery. If it still locks up, replace the bendix gear.

John, May 2008