Repairing a Honda Recoil Starter

[NO0C]

Today I went to mow lawn/pick up leaves and pulled the rope on the Honda GCV160A and it cracked on the first pull. One problem: rope would not rewind into the recoil starter housing. Good thing I wasn’t pressed for time in getting the job done today before it drops from 75° for a high today to just 55° tomorrow.

I removed the cover and then the recoil starter assembly. I removed the T20 head screw (LH thread) that holds all of it together and it was an easy diagnosis as this time the inner hook on the spring had broken off. I had repaired the outer hook a couple years ago.

Because there are no parts serviced for this 28400-Z0L-V72 assembly and the assembly is north of $40 and probably not available in town, I pulled the same trick as the last time. At that time I learned that you cannot put a new bend into the spring at ambient temperature as it is so brittle it just breaks.

So I pulled the plumber’s torch out and heated up the broken end until it glowed red and put a new U bend in it with a needle nosed pliers and let it air quench, cleaned everything up and applied a liberal amount of multi-purpose grease to all the moving parts and reassembled. It worked like a champ and the cost was $0.00 and a little time. Getting the right amount of rope wind on the pulley was the most tedious part.

I just thought I would share this for 2 reasons:

1. The T20 screw you must remove is LEFT HAND thread.
2. Heating the spring end allows you to put a new bend in it and allows savaging the recoil starter.

Thanks for listening. I’m hoping to put the Lawn Boy and Ariens edger in dry dock soon.

[HondaG100]

Good info. I have never had much luck bending new hooks but I usually have used springs around for the engines I work on the most.

[38racing]

My aftermarket supplier shows the assembly for a gcv160 at $16 USD after my discount and conversion from CDN $. Also lists internal replacements for it.

[bobodu]

You can also grind new notches in those springs that use them.

[NO0C]

Could you please provide a link? Thank you.

My aftermarket supplier shows the assembly for a gcv160 at $16 USD after my discount and conversion from CDN $. Also lists internal replacements for it.

[Skywatcher]

Hi NO0C

The trick to getting the right length of cord on these starters is;

1, With starter reassembled without cord, wind the recoil spring up until it dead heads.
2, Back the pully off at least ¼ turn until the anchor point aligns with the grommet & lock with a small screwdriver through the spokes.
3, Thread the end of a bulk roll of # 4½ or # 5 starter cord through grommet and secure to pulley (don't forget to heat seal the end).
4, Allow the spring to pull as much cord onto the pulley as the pulley will take.
5, Add the distance between the srarter and the rope guide on the handlebar, cut the cord, attach the grip and heat seal the end.

If the cord ends up being a little too long once installed, slide the grip down the cord a few inches and tie a new knot. Once you are satisfied with the correct length, cut and heat seal the end of the cord. The reason for backing the spring off at least ¼ turn is to make sure the cord dead heads before the spring. However, if your engine is properly tuned, ond should never need to use the full length of the cord. Hope this helps,

Sky

[NO0C]

Hi Sky,

I probably gave the impression that getting the rope right was difficult, but in actuality I had no problem at all.

Good tips, but everything with the rope was intact and I saw no need to remove a nearly new rope I had replaced not long ago. I had a piece of nylon rope that seemed to be the correct size then and it worked just fine after matching it to the length I removed. I never did care for the material the OE rope was and it finally frayed and the strands started separating.

I did exactly has you mentioned by winding the spring tight and then because there is enough room to sneak the rope between the pulley and the case (not always the case), I wound enough onto the pulley to get the correct length of rope on the pulley. I sat the starter on the studs and everything was fine the first pass. I figured at most I would either have to add or subtract a loop off of the pulley.

All is well and great tips if you’re replacing the rope at the same time, especially warning against making the spring tension too tight when the rope is retracted. My idea is to just have enough rope wound on the pulley that if barely fully retracts to avoid slamming the spring when pulling fully.

Thanks, I’m sure some will benefit from you procedure.

[38racing]

http://www.bantasaw.com/catalog/viewpro ... 469&p=5950

Could you please provide a link? Thank you.

My aftermarket supplier shows the assembly for a gcv160 at $16 USD after my discount and conversion from CDN $. Also lists internal replacements for it.

[NO0C]

Thanks 38racing, it has been bookmarked for later reference.

[38racing]

http://www.bantasaw.com/catalog/viewproduct.asp?i=1469&p=5950

Could you please provide a link? Thank you.

My aftermarket supplier shows the assembly for a gcv160 at $16 USD after my discount and conversion from CDN $. Also lists internal replacements for it.

just in case someone comes across this thread the starter i noted is the short rope version. that supplier does not have the long rope version.