You just might be onto something, I went out this evening and did what you suggested and sure enough it spins and stays engaged with the spark plug out so maybe it is related to the decompression valve. In looking at the manual the decompression is associated with the cam and they mention a decmpression ball that is in the cam and also says that if the ball won't seat you have to replace the cam! Ouch! There are other parts associated with this system so I will deffinately be looking into all those first. Thanks for the tip. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Still dealing with the starter issue. I checked out the decompression valve and all looks good there. When I had the valve out and tried to turn the engine over the starter would only turn the engine part of a revolution before the compression stroke and it would just stop the starter cold. But when this happened the starter drive stayed engaged and didn't kick out. This surpised me as I figured once it met some resistance it would kick out and just spin.

I took the starter out and disassembled it and checked out all the electrical according to the manual and all was good. I cleaned it up and put it back on but the starter drive still wants to disengage after a revolution and just spin. One thing I did find that was not quite up to book specs was the solenoid. It was supposed to have 3.4 ohms of resistance between the small red wire and the mounting bracket. Mine had 2.7 ohms. Don't know if this is enough to make a difference but I am buying a new one as well as a new starter drive.

Any advice on where to go from here?

 

I have the same problem on my 02 Trailblazwer. The starter engages for a short period on the flywheel (not enough to start) then the bendix disengages but the starter keeps spinning. This is a new starter and bendix. I have a new magnetic starter switch installed. The fly wheel and starter drive were missing no teeth. It simply seems to be a problem of the bendix disengaging too soon.

The questinos then is what regulates/controls bendix engagement?

Diggs

 

After all was said and done I ended up putting on a new solenoid, though I dont' think that was my problem, and a new starter drive, an aftermarket off ebay for half the price of a Polaris one. In comparing the aftermarket starter drive with the stock Polaris one the aftermarket had a longer throw on it enabling it to engage the flywheel teeth deeper and get a better bite. This is where I think my problem was, the factory drive just didn't get a good enough bite that and the end of the drive teeth were a little rounded from bumping the flywheel over time so that when it met resistance with the engine compression it slipped out of engagement. Now mine is starting fine with no problems. Hope this helps.