My Qualcast Mower (ELan 32) broke its drive belt and sheared the pinion. I can order the parts, but the pinion has a retaining pin...how do you get it out so that the pinion can be rplaced?

JC London, September 2008

Many thanks jc.

Brian, September 2019

This was a great answer and works for a Qualcast 320 Eclipse lawnmower as well. Remove the top green cover as above. The only difference that I found was that I did not need to take the motor out. If you remove the old drive belt the pinion is fully exposed. Using mole grips, hold the pinion tightly. I then used the "nail" part of a small cable grip, (those that you use to hold cable to walls etc), to knock out the old roll pin. Any small nail would do so long as it is a smaller diameter than the hole on the pinion. Remove the old pinion and replace with the new one. Use the small nail to line up the holes in the pinion and the spindle on the motor. Tap in the new rolled pin until it is flush with the pinion. You only need to fit the new belt now. Start by looping the belt around the pinion and then around the drive wheel connected to the cylinder cutters. If you move the pulley wheel slowly, the belt will slip over the pulley wheel and will lock into place. Make a few turns by hand to ensure that the belt is secure on the pinion and pulley wheel. Test by plugging in the lawnmower, making sure that no small fingers are near the exposed pinion and pulley wheel. If all is well, replace the top cover as above and then replace the side cover.

Tony Wirral, May 2012

Parts arrived, job done. Thanks for your precise instructions.

JC London, September 2008

You need to remove the complete motor so it can be held in a vice so you can drift out the old pin- you won't be able to do it in situ, guaranteed.


First, you need to remove the side belt cover. The side belt cover has a tamperproof screw holding it on, which will need to be removed before you can remove the cover. You will need a tamperproof Torx bit- a tool merchant or maybe Halfords should help. Pull off the side cover and this will reveal the broken belt and broken bits of the alloy pulley.

Secondly, remove the top cover of the mower by peeling off the sticker at the fron of the mower- this will reveal two cross headed screws. Undo these and the top cover should lift off.

You should now be able to see four black cross headed screws going through the side of the mower into the motor under where the side cover was.These are the only screws that hold the motor in place, so remove these and then firmly grap the back of the motor and lift it away from the chassis.

With the motor now out of the chassis grip the broke pinion in a vice and tighten. Find a suitably sized drift and gently tap out the roll pin holding the broken pinion onto the motor shaft. Once removed slide the pinion off the shaft and replace with a new pinion and roll pin the opposite way you removed it.

Lay the motor on the chassis so the pinion is poking through the side of the chassis and hook the new belt over the cylinder pulley and motor pinion- do this before you start putting back the four motor retaining screws as there is no adjustment after the motor is re-attached.

Locate the motor screws on at a time- do not tighten any of them until you are sure all the screws are marrying up the their respective hole. Tighten them evenly and as you do it will tighten the belt up and drap the motor body back into it's locating slot in the top of the chassis.

Manually sping the ylinder and check the belt is correctly seated on the pulleys. Replace the top cover and finally the belt cover.

Job done.

pleasant, September 2008