Busted the pull cord...Quick question

[KingFisher85]

Had to do a quick fix down at the river the other night, busted my pull cord in half.
How easy is it to just pull the cover and put in a new pull cord?
What I'm worried about is pulling the cover that covers the pull starter and having a spring go flyin or somethin.

[1pump]

I don't know what kind of motor you have, but it ain't hard to do on a Merc. There is a spring under the ratchet thingy that's easy to lose, but not if you know it's there. But you can take a Merc cover off complete without losing anything, but the assembly has to be taken apart to replace the rope and set the rewind tension (at least on mine).

[KingFisher85]

I have a late 80s 25hp merc

When the rope busted the other night, I had to take a fish hook and wedge it up in there to pull the rope out. I thought I had maybe unwound the spring but guess I didn't.

[Draggin' Bait]

Years ago all I could afford was OLD engines. I've had to do emergency on-water repairs to either the cord or the spring a couple of times on former engines in that size range. The biggest issue is the spring. It is important to (1) ensure it doesn't come "unglued" as you disassemble -- it will dramatically increase the time required to reassemble, and (2) get the spring tightness correct before final reassembly. Mine were made of spring steel and would seemingly "explode" out of the slot if given half a chance. After reassembly if the spring is too tight it will break when you pull the cord; if it is too loose it will not retract the rope. On many engines, you can remove the spring recoil unit and wrap a short length of rope around the top of the flywheel, and start the engine with the cowling off. You have to watch where your hands are as you put the cowling back on, and also what the rope might strike behind you after you pull, but this trick will often get you home when an on-water fix isn't practical.

Heh! On one old motor I got to where I could fix the sucker in under an hour while afloat -- and almost before getting seasick with my face in the gas and grease fumes in the bottom of the boat while my buddies were rockfishing! Good luck.

Larry

[1pump]

Mine's an '87 25 Merc. I've had it apart a few times to rewind the rope and set the spring tension, but I never had to replace the rope.
Shouldn't be very tough, if my somewhat fuzzy memory is correct. Like mentioned earlier, it's a pain in the butt if it's too loose. Mine was loose for a while, and one fine morning I gave it a good yank and the rope came out so far I punched my girlfriend right in the noggin (she was sitting right behind me). Quite the Kodak moment. :help:

I'm gonna go outside and have a smoke, and while I'm out there I'll get my factory Merc manual out of my truck and see what it says.

[1pump]

OK, the good news is that you don't even have to take the rewind starter off the motor to replace it. Also, you can probably get a replacement rope at your local hardware store as long as it's the same size and type.
The bad news is that it's kind of hard to explain (even though it's a fairly simple job), so if you can wait until I get to work tonight I can copy it and fax it to you (?), or maybe the Boat Doc could e-mail it.

[KingFisher85]

I don't know how to work this fax or what the number is. But if I can get it e-mailed that would be nice!

I sent you an PM 1pump.

Thanks

[yankemnbankem]

Hey mr. Ive redone my 18 hp Evinrude so many times (spring unsprung or not) that I have it down to a science. Can be very trying the first couple of times but......hey it builds character. Now you know my new 20hp merc has electric start so....bye bye to the rope pulling business....I hope. Hope to see you on the river soon Mikey!

[KingFisher85]

I fixed it...was not hard as I thought.
I pulled the cover off, took the old rope out, put the new one in, put the cover back on, wound the rope up with it on the motor, fired the motor up and then trimed it to where my motor wanted it at while running. Just like new now :smile:

Now I just need to find someone to weld these two cracks in the bottom :depressed: