Hi Guys
I have to look at my neighbor's Prairie tonight and was wondering if anyone has had the same problem he is having. The starter just spins, it will not turn over the motor. He cannot start it with the recoil either.... when he pulls the cord he feels no resistance and it does not turn over the motor.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

It is hard to say since we never have this problem.

Might be the flywheel is loose, crank busted, starter one way clutch busted, connecting rods busted. See if the recoil makes the front drive pulley turn with belt cover off.

Could be a lot of things. I bet that it is just a loose flywheel bolt and the keys are sheared.

The recoil and electric start both attach to a different section of the crank. Other than that, maybe the starter clutch and recoil just happen to be bad at the same time.

You hafta start taking the engine cover off the left side. Buy a gasket for when you put it back on. But, when you are in there, see if the flywheel turns without the crank turning. You will have a clear view of the starter mechanism too.

 

Sounds like your friend has 2 seperate problems, if the oneway-clutch goes out then the electric starter will act as you have discribed. If the recoil starter acts like that then the recoil-pawl's may be stuck in the disenguage position. I would remove the recoil starter first and give it a good look and some Lube-All or WD-40, make sure them pawls are free to move. Look in the KAW oem parts finder and you can see how things go together. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the replies! That should get me started (maybe even the Prairie!) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]