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The motor on my Sonora suddenly jammed or froze. When the spindle is turned the governor spins and the large gear in the photo appears to spin freely on the shaft, but the rest of the shaft does not turn (although it is not completely jammed). I know that the springs are partially wound, so what is the issue likely to be and what could be done?

Thanks,
Bill

Does the small gear, with an arrow pointing to it, also spin freely along with the big gear, or is it stuck to the shaft which does not spin?

It appears that some work has been done in the past to the stuck shaft & gear assembly. Your photo shows some marks on the shaft where it appears to have been gripped in a vice or with some vise-grips maybe. Also, the shaft has some bluing, as if it's been heated up. I think the spinning gear issue is an old one and that somebody in the past maybe soldered the gears back to the shaft. Perhaps that repair has now failed?

The small gear does not seem to move apart from the shaft, although it is clearly held in place now by the spring gear. I don’t want to try to do much since there is tension on the springs. I don’t know what the bluing is.

Have you tried to grip the spring barrels by hand, and push them in reverse? This could reveal where the sticking point is, whatever it could be... some strange matter may have been trapped within the bull gear teeth or against the pinion... You must wear gloves, and try first to hold the spring tension in your hand, then progress a bit more backwards, and see what happens. If something is broken, it could disengage the trap and make the motor run wildly, so work safely and be prepared to take the motor our from your face....!

Before you do anything else, release the tension in the springs. Secure the motor firmly, insert the crank, turn the crank just a bit, as if to wind. You'll see the ratchet pawl lift up off of the ratchet wheel. Manually hold the pawl in the raised position and slowly rotate the crank backwards to unwind the spring. Don't let it get away from you! This is the part where having the motor secured firmly comes into play, since you'll have one hand on the crank and the other on the pawl, you'll need to not have to worry about holding onto the motor as well.

!!! ... with the motor still attached to the machine, that would work, but if you have the motor outside, it will start jumping around the crank!!!

Inigo wrote:!!! ... with the motor still attached to the machine, that would work, but if you have the motor outside, it will start jumping around the crank!!!

Did you read everything I wrote???

!!! That's why I stated, " Secure the motor firmly..." and "This is the part where having the motor secured firmly comes into play, since you'll have one hand on the crank and the other on the pawl, you'll need to not have to worry about holding onto the motor as well." !!!

Yes, I’ll try that—with everything secure!

Jerry, sorry.
Oooooops! I read too fast!
(that's the emotion of the hobby!)

Ok, I got the motor apart. The shaft was jammed in the cover but now the large gear spins freely on the shaft. I have two questions. First, what can be done to secure the gear to the shaft? Second, should there be a spacer or bushing at the end of the shaft where it passes through the plate? I’m not sure what would keep it from jamming into the hole in the plate.