IH340 Utility Flywheel Access

Hi there, I am a first time tractor owner and am getting my feet wet right off the bat. Yesterday I went out and tried to start the tractor and it did turn over but never caught. I tried a few times and then all I got when pressing the starter button was a click. The battery is fine and someone suggested that the Bendix might be stuck on the flywheel. The suggestion was to spin the flywheel a bit by hand to see if it releases the starter. Where can I access the flywheel to do this?

There is a rectangle plate on the bottom of the bellhousing, below the flywheel. It is held on by two bolts. Remove that plate and you can than spin the flywheel using a prybar or large screwdriver.

Its fast and easier to just pull the 2 or 3 bolts that hold the starter on and pull it back an inch or so. Doing it that way you do not risk braking a tooth on the ring gear and you also can hear or fell it pop loose
Hobby farm

Great thanks!

Do you think my friends suggestion about the Bendix being stuck makes sense, as far as why I get a click and it will not turn over any more? Are their any other ideas you might have if this does not work?

I wanted to get it started to put the bucket on the loader, so I can take the loader off and go through the engine. It has an International 2000 loader on it and the entire frame restricts access to the engine.

I will see if I can get to it. The International 2000 loader blocks a lot of access to the sides of the engine.

The battery may seem fine, but if it is at less than full charge, all you get is a click. Charge up that battery and try it again.

You do not need to access the flywheel to do this. You do not need to even bend over...better for us old guys. Just put it in neutral, ignition OFF!, and grab the fan blade with one hand, and push inward on the fan belt with the other, now turn the fan blade. The engine will turn. If it seems to be "locked up", then it is proof of the bad starter/bendix idea. If you reverse the direction of the fan turning you just did, it will push the starter bendix back out. This has been a frequent problem with my 300U, but I never had it happen with the 340U.

I suspect that the end bushing on the starter shaft is worn, the bendix teeth worn, and the ring gear teeth are also worn. Some day I will split it and fix the problems.

Another way to free it up is to put the tranny in 5th gear, ignition OFF, and rock the tractor back and forth. If you listen carefully, you can hear the bendix pop out of the ring gear.

Good luck.

Paul in MN

You can also some times jack up one rear wheel and put it in high gear and rock that wheel back and forth. I have never had any luck doing it that way but a lot of peope say to do it that way
Hobby farm

The "Bendix is stuck" and the "battery is low" ideas are your two best bets.

Thanks, I did do that. The other thing I need to do is to clean the terminals a little bit, try restarting, and if that does not work, someone suggested that I try and jump it from my truck.

Wow, sounds like you have lots of experience. As I said, I am just a beginner. Thanks so much for the advice.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have not heard this one yet. It will be one more thing I can try - thanks again.

Great, thanks for the confirmation of options. Everyone has been so great on this site and now I have loads of things to try. Thanks to you and everyone else.

With an H or M, you do not need to jack up one wheel. Just make sure the ignition is off, put the transmission in gear, and push against a rear tire, rocking the tractor back and forth. Two or three times and you can hear the bendix snap out.

I can not believe all the great help I got on my issue, this site is awesome. I did try jacking up one tire, putting the tractor in high gear and rocked the tire. I definitely did hear the engine rolling over but the Bendix did not do anything.

So, I took my battery to the nearest CarQuest and had them test it - it was 100%. So, I started taking off the cables. That is where I found my issue - the negative end attached to the tractor came off in 2 pieces and it looked like a pair of washers were used to sandwich the lead around the bolt and between the washers (there was no tab or terminal on the cable, only wire between the washers). Needless to say the washers were paper thin and rotted away.

I went out and bought Cat. 1 cable for both the positive and the negative (positive looked ok but I wanted to reposition the battery and needed something a little longer). I got the negative lead from CarQuest off the shelf for about $15. The positive one I needed a 70" lead so that one I got a local place that made it to order while I waited ($26).

I sanded down and used electrical cleaner on the frame where the negative was connected, I put dialectic grease on both sides of the lead tab, sandwiched it between 2 washers, putting dialectic grease on both sides of the washers and bolted the lead to the frame after adding anti-seize to the bolt threads. I also added some dielectric grease to the terminal end before putting it on the battery (after cleaning the battery terminal).

For the positive lead, I used electrical cleaner on the starter end and applied dielectric grease before bolting to the starter. The battery end I cleaned with electrical cleaner, cleaned the terminal, applied dielectric grease, and tightened it down.

Once that was all done, I sprayed Battery Terminal Protector over the battery connections and the frame where the negative was attached to help stem off any more corrosion.

With that done, I turned the key and it started like a charm. Thanks again to everyone for all their help and suggestions. I had a picture of the negative lead to show you all, but I can not figure out how to add it. I hope this can help someone else who is experiencing similar issues. THANKS!!