Well, I had another go at this this afternoon. Sprayed some WD40 down the little hole near the latches, rotated the starter gear so that I could see one of the two latches, stuck my screw driver on the leverage point and gave it a gentle tap with the hammer. Hey presto! It released!

I would suspect therefore that it was not actually jammed, but many years ago - perhaps in a failed attempt to start the main - someone engaged the pinion and left it that way.

Thanks to everyone who posted advice, diags and photos - all helped greatly.

I now also have my hands on a full set of manuals, which I'm sure will prove to be extremely useful.

Now I'm sure there many more nasty little surprises waiting, but progress is progress. We also have the pony starting reliably in the workshop on first pull of the rope.

Cheers...

Are you in need of a parts book , regards Andrew

No...there is one in the set of manuals I have now got. It's probably not specifically for the 4G series D4, but it's close enough.

I was looking through it admiring the fancy options, such as the fully enclosed cab!

Thanks...

"mctozzy" wrote:

Well, I had another go at this this afternoon. Sprayed some WD40 down the little hole near the latches, rotated the starter gear so that I could see one of the two latches, stuck my screw driver on the leverage point and gave it a gentle tap with the hammer. Hey presto! It released!

Ah....the sweet smell of success. See, that little hole is good for something.