I recently noticed that my lawn mower was not starting even though the pull cord was in good working condition. I also noticed that whenever I tried to start my mower, the pull cord does not recoil back into the housing. I told my neighbor about this problem, and he told me it was not a big issue, he said I should check my recoil lawn mower spring and fix it. He assured me that it was a very easy thing to do, and that motivated me. I decided to fix my recoil lawn mower spring and here are the steps I followed to achieve this:
Our other guides you might also be interested in:
- How to make lawn mower faster
- How to store lawn mower outside
- How to level lawn mower deck
- How to sharpen lawn mower blades without removing
Remove the Engine Cover
The engine cover should be detached by removing the screws on the engine cover. This will give you access to the recoil assembly, depending on the type of lawn mower you have. You might need to remove the engine tank in order to have access to the recoil assembly of some types of lawnmowers.
Remove the Screw from the Recoil Assembly
This will make it possible for you to detach the recoil assembly from which you can remove the pulley either with a screwdriver or a wrench depending on the bolt that is holding it.
Remove the Starter Spring
The starter spring is below the pulley. Remove it and replace it with a new starter spring on the recoil assembly. The next thing is to place the pulley over it and tighten the Screw to hold it in place and secure it.
Re-tension the Starter Spring
This is done by winding it in an anticlockwise direction, after which you securely hold the tensioned pulley with one hand and the starter cord with the other hand. Slowly release the cord to allow it rewind the pulley before you pull the cord several times to ensure that it recoiled properly.
The final thing to do is to reinstall the recoil assembly into the housing before fixing the engine cover. If the recoil assembly is below the engine tank, you would need to fix it first before attaching the engine cover. All screws should be tightened properly during these procedures.
The good thing about these processes is the fact that you do not need so many tools to follow it. All you need is a wrench, a screwdriver and a replacement starter spring. A precaution to take note of during this process is to ensure that you do not lose grip of the pulley as you wind it. This is because it has so many sharp tabs that could easily give you a cut if care is not taken.
Remember that your mower has very little chances if starting if your recoil spring is not properly fixed or completely damaged. The above steps take nothing more than 20 minutes to achieve, and you can get to do it on your own without the help of a specialist.
