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Removing Legacy Starter


SimJim

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I have to replace the starter on a Legacy with Kohler CV25. The problem of course is the lower starter bolt being inaccessible because of the frame. So I've heard you can just lift the engine up about 2" and get the nasty bolt out. I've removed the 4 engine mount nuts from underneath, and removed the two v-belts. Could someone advise on the next steps and where/how to lift or pry up? Thanks.

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You may have to remove the two bolts holding the firewall in place so you can raise the engine some. I will check my legacy in the morning.  Also, Legacys have CH family of engines, not CV.  

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I took some of the metal shroud off around the engine on starter side.

This allowed me to pull starter out easier instead of lifting engine.

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Thanks for the two replies. I removed the 2 upper screws on the firewall and 1 of the lower ones. The last one, closest to the starter, had a mouse nest over it and the head was too corroded to get a grip with any size socket. So I thought I'd tackle it from below, tried turning with vise grips on hardened tapping screw threads, but no go. So then I decided to try drilling it out from below ... cut off the protruding 3/4" and then tried drilling up. Lost cause - hardened tapping screw. I ended up epoxying a 1/2" [oversized] socket on the corroded head and will let it cure 24hrs and hope that I'll then be able to turn the mother out. I hope the Simplicity engineers who designed this starter bolting blind geometry corrode in Hell,

As for removing metal  shrouding around engine - this doesn't apply in any sensible way to the Legacy I have - but thanks for taking the time to comment.

Cheers.

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Update: epoxying of socket was a total failure. Finally got a little reckless and just horsed t****with a long bar 'underneath' one side of the engine -with the firewall still held by one screw. There was enough give in the firewall to allow the engine mounting bolts to ride up and out of the mounting holes .... exposing the lower starter bolt. With the engine still wedged up by the bar, I removed the failed starter and installed the new. Then I mucked around for half-hour or so trying to get the 4 engine mounting bolts back in their holes --- not so easy,  interim failure, it was dark by then so I adjourned til manana. TBC.

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Further update: worse fail yet - discovered that drive shaft u-joint in rear had gotten disconnected with the horsing effort. Nearly impossible for a single person to register in x,y,z - AND ANGULAR SPLINE - vectors while trying to 'pull' engine rearward to couple the components. The worst unforeseen *** in 50-some years of wrenching.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have pulled the motor on my Legacy a couple times.  Normally not too bad if you remove the bolts on the flywheel for the driveshaft.  Then all you have is the motor bolts, belts and a couple harnesses and fuel line.  

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On 8/31/2019 at 10:04 PM, SimJim said:

I hope the Simplicity engineers who designed this starter bolting blind geometry corrode in Hell,

On a different machine. Maybe those engineers will take the Kohler designers that thought automotive valve keepers were a great way to keep the valves in place. They are fine when the engine is on the bench, total aggravation with the engine in the machine!

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I finally did it. Myself, no helper. Except maybe Pan Bog.  Somehow the splines aligned, then the 4 mounting bolts and the wrap-up was easy. The machine cranks and starts like new. Except when the "brake interlock switch" malfunctions. Then I can sit for a half-hour depressing the brake till I get leg cramps ... turning the key .... and when I get lucky it cranks. Anyone know where this "brake interlock switch" is located so I can kill and destroy?

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5 hours ago, SimJim said:

I finally did it. Myself, no helper. Except maybe Pan Bog.  Somehow the splines aligned, then the 4 mounting bolts and the wrap-up was easy. The machine cranks and starts like new. Except when the "brake interlock switch" malfunctions. Then I can sit for a half-hour depressing the brake till I get leg cramps ... turning the key .... and when I get lucky it cranks. Anyone know where this "brake interlock switch" is located so I can kill and destroy?

I think it is inside the frame rail where the brake goes through the frame.  It’s not hard to miss when you are under the mower.

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