'Top part of the motor under the flywheel?'

You got it.

Don't forget to torque the nut. Usually about 35 fp.

Thanks folks! I appreciate your fast response.

Well, here's the latest. There was no broken sher pins/keys but one of the forks on the coil was peeled back. Evidently when the motor stopped momentarily, it through the shaft off enough to where the flywheel just grazed the coil arms. I was able to straighten it out but in the process, I got interested why the electric starter never worked.

I tore it apart and cleaned it up, it was a mess and I had high hopes that it would work again. All the parts look good. However, when it is activated, it spins but not with enough force to throw out the engaging gear to the fly wheel.

I went to the Toro site and checked out the diagram of how it was assembled but it showed no spring on the throw out shaft of the assembly. Yet this one has one? Don't know if it was added at a later date or what? It would seem like it would require one in order to throw the engaing gear away from the fly wheel. So, I guess it's back to the rope. Your thoughts appreciated.

Sounds like you have the battery installed backwards. Plus post goes to solenoid, minus post goes to ground! If not that way, the starter will spin backwards, and the gear won't rise up to engage the gear on the flywheel!

The battery is installed correctly. In fact, I've tried using other 12v sources with some success. However, when installed, the starter spins but not with enough force to raise the starter gear all the way up to the fly wheel. I'm going to check out if it needs to be shimmed. Thanks for your response.

Get rid of that rock.

[IMG]http://i32.tinypic.com/jt4a5j.jpg[/IMG]