# Tecumseh starters fit all the engines?



## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Tecumseh starters, I've seen on Craigslist, there appears to be two different looking starters. Are they all interchangeable for Tecumseh 5, 7, 8, 9, 10hp engines? The 5, 8, 9, & 10hp engines I have, the starters all appear to be the same. A friend has a 7hp without a starter, looking for one. I can't bring the snowblower to the seller to check if it fits and certainly don't want to buy the starter to discover it doesn't fit when I get home.


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## arienskids (Jan 26, 2018)

Most of the 6hp and larger starters will interchange. Sometime in the late 80s early 90s they changed the 5hp starters to 3 bolts


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

JLawrence08648 said:


> Tecumseh starters, I've seen on Craigslist, there appears to be two different looking starters. Are they all interchangeable for Tecumseh 5, 7, 8, 9, 10hp engines? The 5, 8, 9, & 10hp engines I have, the starters all appear to be the same. A friend has a 7hp without a starter, looking for one. I can't bring the snowblower to the seller to check if it fits and certainly don't want to buy the starter to discover it doesn't fit when I get home.


I dont think they are i found at least 3 diff ones when i was looking at them
pretty sure the 358cc flatty and the 318cc flattys are not the same


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

hope this helps with a break down help at least
Tecumseh Starter Motors


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

87 powershift said:


> hope this helps with a break down help at least
> Tecumseh Starter Motors


great info
hope you are doing well mr powershift


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

i look there a lot for parts interchange help . at least when some one has a idea of what fits they can OPE store shop for a used part that fits. 
they also seem to go out and buy up nos parts as they had a NLA camshaft for a kohler sv twin that i needed, price wise about what kohler last listed it for BIG $$$


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

About 20 years ago I was in a Sears the day after Christmas, they used to have small batteries on sale. AS I was checking out I spotted Tech starters on sale: $100/$49/$29/$4.00. Narurally I grabbed a 12V unit. I should have bought them all, around 5 or 6, mixed voltages. Any the one I bought was for an 8 hp, and my Tech is a 6 hp. I just had to shim it out with two washers in the 4 bolts, and its still running. And yeah the '66-6HP came with a ring gear and a bump out and the mounting bosses for the starter, and all was well.
Sid


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## FearlessFront (Aug 18, 2016)

The older H40-H70 take one size starter.
The 8 horsepower and up (medium frame engines) take another size starter.
Than you have the smaller 3, 4 and 5 horsepower HS40 AND HS50 take that other style starter which look completely different than the two that look very similar on the small and medium frame engines that are only slightly different in fitting on the engine's. 
I have seen a starter made for an 8 horsepower stuck on a 7 horsepower. The brackets had to be bent and washers were used as spacers to bolt it on. It can be done, but they often come loose, so it is better to just get the right starter for the right engine.
Most of the newer Tecumseh starters say right on their tag what engine they fit on.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

I've switched the starters between various TEC motors in the past. The ones for the smaller engine (4 & 5) HP engines were pretty much identical. The 7 - 10 HP ones there are some differences I've noted. The starter button on the older ones are a gray ceramic case while the newer ones are black plastic with a shroud over the plugin. The wire lengths between the starter and button vary in length. The mounts vary also, some use a shoulder bolt on the 2 upper mounts which are slotted and ringlet lower mounts while older ones have ringlets for all 4 mounts. I believe that there are also 2 different gears on the large HP motors, though I have not run into the finer toothed ones yet.

I've switched several between the various 7 & 10 HP units and all have worked as long as you had the right bolts and could mount the button somewhere.

That's my experience.


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## Dusty (Dec 13, 2018)

You can make the 8-10hp starter fit the 6 and 7hp engines by adding shims or bending the tabs in a little bit, but you cant make a 6-7hp starter fit the 8-10hp engine, the starter body hits the block. We tried it, it was a fail. The 5hp and down starter is completely different and has a nose on the front that seconds as a cover. Those starters will only fit the 5hp and down. Its really best to just use the correct starter that it was intended for because I have seen where people who stuck the larger 8hp starter on the 7hp engine using shims loosened up and as a result, took out the starter bendix when it loosened and became misaligned, if it messes up the flywheel ring gear, it gets even more costly. Now with the aftermarket starters out and the tons of used ones being sold, you can find the correct one needed at a good deal. Its not like how it used to be when you had to fork out $150+ bucks for a new OEM starter.


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