hello all hows it going? this is my first post on this forum. my lawn mower is a 1996 simplicity with a 18 hp briggs ohv motor. it wouldnt start today and i found a bunch of teeth stripped off of the flywheel. i took everthing apart and am ready to get the flywheel off but it looks like it is pressed on. is there a special puller to remove the flywheel on this? does anyone have any special tricks?

the model is 282777 the type is 0612a1 and the code is 9502014a

thanks very very much for your help

eric

If you can find the parts list for your engine, the flywheel puller is usually listed in there. First loosen but not remove the center nut, usually a 1" head nut. I used a long 1" wrench and a hammer. There is a flywheel holder strap tool, but it's about $50 and I did without. Then use the puller (for a B&S 28N707 engine, flywheel puller part # 19203).

On my engine, the flywheel was really stuck on there. Cranked the nuts on the puller as hard as I dared, then applied a little leverage with a large screwdriver between the flywheel ring and the starter bracket. The flywheel unstuck itself with a loud bang. Drilling out the rivets to replace the plastic flywheel gear was no fun either. I drilled off the heads and kept on drilling until the top of the rivet was just below the top of the flywheel, then drove the rivet out with a hammer and makeshift drift (screwdriver!).

Now I'm waiting for parts and tools to replace the starter gear and clutch drive before putting it all back together. With the new aluminum flywheel gear, this repair ought to last a long time.