IH 350U: Cranking problem

linemechanic · Nov 24, 2011

The only other person to have a hard time starting this gas tractor is the guy I bought it from and he never mentioned it PRIOR to my driving off with it! Just seems to "jam" up....like its stuck even with a good battery. Any ideas???? Thanks-Jimmy

bo · Nov 24, 2011

You didn't start it before you bought it?
Cranking motor not enough torque
Missing teeth on fly wheel
Missing teeth on starter gear
Starter selnoid failing
Hydrolock, not likely
Advance timing...
that's just for starters.

rrlund · Nov 24, 2011

"Jams up"? As in starter locking? What do you have to do to get it unjamed?

CCer · Nov 24, 2011

Occasionaly mine will lock up. I assume it's wear. I loosen the starter mounting bolts, it will come loose. Retighten the bolts, and it's good to go.

big fred · Nov 24, 2011

I do the same with my 300U, basically the same tractor. Easy enough fix, if you don't mind cussin' at that back bolt...

linemechanic1 · Nov 24, 2011

I have operated it but only about 2 hours total. It got worse last year, then, very little use this year. Had starter rebuilt and new solenoid (old one ended up with a hole burned through it) and it is definitely hitting the flywheel...just not turning it. Its been converted to 12V with Pertronics ignition. Assuming the engine turns clockwise (from driver"s seat), I"ve tried to bar it over after pulling the starter but it doesn"t want to turn. On Monday I"ll have some time to really address the "ground" thing for the battery and starter cables as it seems like that comes up a lot in the discussions here. And a longer bar!

Janicholson · Nov 24, 2011

There is a starter drive replacement that fixes that issue immediatly. It is very different than the original, and has a mutch smaller spring. Easily found on the internet, and (I think) here on the YT store. Not a problem to replace, no modifications needed. Jim

george md · Nov 24, 2011

If it turns clockwise looking from the seat,
I would say your starter rebuilder set it up
for a normal engine and not an IH . The engine
turns clockwise from the front of the tractor.
Engines with the starter mounted behind the
flywheel use a reverse rotation starter.
Had a customer put on a standard rotation
starter on a 400 , he pulled the head twice
trying to find why it didn't have much
compression. Had to do a road call to figure
out what he did.

george

northvale · Nov 25, 2011

My 300U would seize up when stopped in gear. I assumed the cylinders had a bad spot. But one day when pulling the starter, I noticed the bendix drive was chewed up. When replaced, it never seized again.

mkirsch · Nov 25, 2011

You don't need to take the starter out! Just turn the key off, put the tractor in 5th and rock it a little bit.

linemechanic1 · Nov 28, 2011

Yeah, I think George MD nailed the problem. The Service Manual says the starter turns CW viewed from drive end (CCW viewed from seat). Original rebuilder not around anymore but when I showed it to Leland Woods at his shop in Liberty, NY he pulled the drive listed for the 350U and sure enough...the one I had 'rebuilt' two years ago is the reverse of what I need. Of course, the correct drive will only work if the starter motor turns clockwise as well. I guess that what this means is that 99% of all internal combustion, reciprocating piston engines turn clockwise and the determining factor in which direction the starter motor turns is whether its fwd or aft of the flywheel! Leland says this thing should be done by the end of the week so I'll post the results so all the folks who've helped me get this far can count this as another victory!

george md · Nov 29, 2011

Glad you won, It sounded like that was the
problem.

I have a friend that lives near hancock
actually on cadosia rd , he was one of the
ones that got flooded really bad several
years ago in june . He is no more than a
mile off 17 .

george

linemechanic1 · Jan 27, 2012

It was a short-lived "victory" over my 350U gas starter. Got it back from Leland and confirmed it turned in the CCW direction as viewed from operator seat. Pushed the starter drive out just fine: still wouldn"t engage and it even tried pushing the whole armature out the back of the housing....even bent the backing plate a little. More checking and it seems that there is supposed to be 10 teeth on the starter gear and not 12 as installed on the "new" starter. Now I"m back to square one so I"ve got to settled some basic questions here or this thing will never run again.
1)From the operator"s seat, does the flywheel/engine (C175), turn the same direction as a clock (CW)? If it does then the starter, which is mounted on the same side of the flywheel as the operator, needs to turn CCW. Right?
2)Is the starter supposed to have 10 teeth? It seems to mesh perfectly, better than the 12 tooth one when laid against the flywheel after removal from the starter motor so I can see it while checking it.

Owen Aaland · Jan 28, 2012

Engine rotational direction is determined by looking at the engine from the front of the tractor. You engine turns clockwise.

Starter rotational direction is determined by looking at the starter from the drive end. In your case, since the starter installs from the back of the flywheel, it need to rotate counter clockwise to turn the engine clockwise.

The original starter number was probably 1108041 if it was a 6 volt system or 1108173 if it was 12 volt. In either case the drive number is 1868804. That is a 10 tooth CCW drive.

You may also run across a 9 tooth drive used in those starters. They were sold mostly for Ms and 400/450s to give a little starter power.

IH 350U: Cranking problem

linemechanic

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