You have probably bent or sheared the shear pin. This may be
further than you want to go.

Different mowers may or may not need every step, but probably
will. Remove the fuel and fuel line. Remove the air cleaner.
Remove the upper cowling. Remover the pull cord mechanism. You
should now see the flywheel. It is a round aluminum casting with
little fins all around the top. Make sure you have removed the
nut holding it on - it may have been holding part of the pull cord
mechanism. Now it is time to remove the flywheel. It will
probably be very hard to remove. If you use a puller that grabs
the outer rim, be very cautious: it is not difficult to break the
flywheel. DAMHIK. It can even be broken with the correct puller
and lags. A steering wheel puller with 1/4 lags works fairly
well.

There will be a small 1/2 moon or square key in a groove on the
shaft that also fits in a groove in the flywheel. This alignment
is critical, it is the timing for the engine. If the key has been
deformed at all, replace it. They usually cost about a $1.00.
Reset the magneto coil by loosening the 2 bolts that hold it in
position, put a business card between the flywheel and the
magneto, turn the flywheel until the magnets have a strong hold of
the magneto, tighten the bolts that hold it, remove the card.

Reassemble and run it.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi everybody -

Since it FINALLY stopped raining here in the Northeastern U.S.,
I
decided that today would be a good day to cut the lawn one last
time
before the winter. Everything was proceeding normally until I
decided
to mow a particularly high patch of grass behind which,
unbeknownst to
me, lurked a large piece of black fabric mulch. The mulch got
caught in
the blade, and the mower stopped running.

I've dislodged the fabric from the blade, and the blade spins
fine on
its own, but now the mower won't start. The cord pulls fine, but
nothing else happens. Suggestions? It's a 3 year old Craftsman
6.5 HP
21" mulching mower, if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance! - Ali