QuestionMy pull cord broke. So I took it apart to try and replace it. My problem is, it wont retract. I wind the cord and then put it back together. But when I pull the cord out, it wont go back in. I dont know if I'm supposed to have a spring somewhre or not. So how can I get the cord to wind itself back in when I pull it?
AnswerHi Luis,
Sorry for my delay. It was a busy holiday here.
Yes, there is a spring that must be prewound before the rope is attached. You might be able to wind the spring by slipping the rope around the hub and housing. See my general proceedure below:
Remove the recoil shroud and take a look at the assembly.
You might have a broken spring or just a rope that has slipped out of the reel.
The spring usually breaks at one of the end tabs. If so, you will need to get a replacement spring and carefully wind that in, before re-assembling the rope reel. You might wish to replace the rope also, if it shows signs
of wear. Below is my proceedure for replacing a broken recoil rope.
You will need to remove the entire cooling shroud. There should be 4 bolts on the sides. You might need to remove the fuel tank also. Pre-wind the recoil reel by hand [about 6 turns, to set the spring tension] and clamp it with Vise-Grip pliers. Remove the old rope. Thread
the new rope through the shroud housing eyelet and to the reel hub. Let the reel re-wind itself until it is full. If there is not enough spring tension you can wind it a couple of turns more by slipping the rope around
between the reel and shroud. Re-clamp the reel. Cut the rope to length and thread it though the handle. At all knots, burn and melt the rope with a lighter to prevent untying. Re-assemble.
I am swamped with questions and can't give follow up answers until next week. Sorry.
Good Luck,
Michael
