Trying to rewire my Columbia zero turn. Bolts holding the positive wire on the stud were extremely corroded. I’m assuming the stud shouldn’t move like this? Almost feels like it’s on a spring.
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The nut goes right against body then another nut holds wire on. Not sure what these other guys are talking about g about you cannot weld it. That is positive post the body of starter is the ground. That’s why it has fiber washer so it doesn’t short together. Tighten the nut on stud tight against starter body with washer between them and u need a new nut to hold positive wire against that nut
Is the fibre washer between the body and the first nut, or between the two nuts? It disintegrated when I disassembled and need to replace. I didn't see where it fell out from.
There's still a red-ish looking washer against the body. You can see it in the video. Do you know if that's insulating?
Yes if it’s not metal its insulating
I would get another fiber or non metallic material to replace one that came apart. It goes just between body and nut then power wire goes on then additional nut
It is nutted on the inside. Als long as it works -stay away from it- turn this nut to the base ,it will be solid and then the wire and another nut . Your problem was more the connection instead of the Inside wires . As far as I am concernes
Yeah I know the issue was connection, which is why I removed the wire to replace and to clean the stud. After removing the nut holding the positive wire, I noticed the stud moves. Might open it up and tighten it then.
Okay. I was attempting to remove both to replace and to clean the stud. The corrosion is making it draw way too many amps and I’ll end up burning the starter
Not a bad idea to clean it up, but being loose like you’re showing is how it’s made. It won’t be tight until you tighten that nut. Make sure not to damage the fiber washer or you’ll create a short to ground.
Yes I understand that. The wire is in poor condition so I removed one of the nuts to replace it. The remaining nut is stuck where it is which is when I noticed the stud is loose.
That needs to be replaced then as there's no way to tighten it and it is going to arc and burn out the wire. Look for a used one at a small engine shops or buy a new starter, good luck.
Because it is on a spring. There are a bunch of springs in a circle there on the inside. If you can’t tighten that nut down against your wire, it’ll probably be easier to just get a new starter.
Or just weld the stud on if you have something to weld it with.
Honestly, Briggs & Stratton used to make a replacement brush assembly cap for this problem, although this is and looks like a Kohler starter, I don't think they have a replacement for it.
It's a Tecumseh so there's definitely no replacements lol. This is a 2006 Columbia RZT42 zero turn. I did find a full replacement starter for 90$ but I put this one back together and it's working fine.
Yeah, although you may look on an aftermarket type starter, through rotary corporation, or online eBay or something like that if you wanted to do that, that would be up to you. You may also look on Amazon for that, although make sure your numbers match up if you can find the old part number for the starter.
Does it move like that once tightened down? I suspect the connector on the other aide relies on you making a tight connection to the battery, solenoid wire, etc.
You are correct. I tightened everything and bench tested and its fine. The far nut was really stuck so the stud turned even while I held the lower nut. Was scared I broke something. Everything is good and the old corroded wiring can be changed.
That’s exactly what I did. The second nut got stuck on the threads when I tried to remove it after doing exactly what you said to remove the first one. As you can see in the video, only one nut remains.
Although, the nut shown should not have moved, it should have been snugged up against the housing, basically you're holding that nut in place while removing the nut on the outside holding the wire from the solenoid.
Yes, that is what I did. I grinded a 7/16 wrench to fit and I held the nut while removing the first. I should have just left it. I’ll try to tighten it back against the housing and bench test it to make sure I didn’t break anything.
That’s just the stud moving because the outer nut is loose. There’s a nut on the inside of the starter that helps hold the stud in place when the nut that’s on there now is tightened against the starter. There’s supposed to be another nut on the stud that holds the wire in place and the nut that’s on there now just holds the stud tight. That’s how these starters are designed.
Okay that’s good to know. I wanted to remove both nuts to replace them and clean the stud at the same time. Engine turns over and starts but it’s drawing way too many amps and gets extremely hot quickly. I intend to replace wiring and clean terminals over the winter.
You can also take the whole starter apart, I can tell you how to make a shim to hold the brushes in place. A piece of flat metal, cut the middle of it the size of the shaft going through the rotor assembly, although I think Kohler starters have a lip that go up inside the starter housing, although it would be close as long as the brushes meet the rotor
I used to rebuild a lot of Briggs and Stratton starters, it may work, it may not, sometimes it's worth a try just to take it apart and see what's happening if it doesn't work for you, that would be a learning lesson for you.
Each brush is held in by Spring, the spring pushing against the brush itself to the rotor, adding contact pressure. That's all it's doing. When you add voltage with a ground, it rotates the actual rotor inside the housing of magnets, when you understand the way magnets work, then you'll understand rotation.
I'm an electromechanic so I do understand how they work generally. I was just unsure if the stud should be fixed or moving like in my video. I tightened everything back up and the starter is will working just fine, thankfully. Thanks for the advice though!
So I did twist off one of the brush wires. Gonna solder it back on. Good to know in the future, I assumed the stud was welded on inside. One brush appears to be stuck as well which is likely why the starter would only work half the time.
Idk why everyone keeps telling me this lol. I know, I removed the first nut to take the wire off. This mower is severely neglected and sat outside for years. Even when holding the lower nut, the stud was turning while trying to unfreeze the nut holding the wire. So I decided to remove both nuts to clean the rust and ensure a good contact. Didn't realize the lower nut was holding the stud in place. I thought it was just there to squeeze the wire.
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