I have the same problem with my 02 rancher es. I am quite sure it is the starter. I am going to pull it this weekend. Don't keep tapping to get started. If the brushes are at its end of life you could screw up the armature. I have also heard that with the carbon buildup, sometimes they just need a good cleaning. It does not look to be the easy to pull the starter. Has anybody done it on a 35O es? It almost looks like you will need to pull the airbox.