Tecumseh Head bolts/Recoil Shroud

[bgsengine]

its just a little roll pin, you can pop it out with pliers to get the screw out as needed.. I used to know what the purpose of that pin was, but can't recall now.. think it was for alignment of the starter / housing to get it evenly spaced within the cup so the starter dogs (2 of them) would center in the cup and evenly distribute the force.. However, you do not need to remove that to service the starter unless the problem is actually the spring itself - More often when the recoils do that it is because the rope is fraying and doesnt reel back in evenly to the pulley - if you have starter off, and observe while the rope is retracting, bet you find the rope binds between pulley and housing.. - rope can be replaced on most of them without removing the starter pulley. Otherwise, also inspect for alignment of the recoil over the starter cup (be sure the pulley doesn't rub on the starter cup) and check that blower housing is fastening down evenly on both bottom sides - if you tighten down one side all the way before tightening the other it can twist the housing a bit and cause recoil binding, as well. I would actually recommend NOT lubricating the recoil hub and especially not the starter dog mechanism - they require friction to work properly so lubrication that seeps in defeats the purpose.

If you check all those points above first you may not need to disassemble... but if you do, I recommend just cleaning and no lubrication.

[lefty]

Looks like that's what's happening. The rope is binding on the housing. I'll replace it. Thank you.

[creia]

All the ones I have ever seen had a small HEX-headed bolt, not a phillips head. Can you (easily) remove that piece? Is it just pressed into the cross of the phillips head? If so, I would just remove it then you can access the phillps head bolt to take apart the recoil mechanism for servicing/lube.
Michael

[lefty]

I tried wiggling it with pliers. It's in there pretty good.

[bgsengine]

Yep as I recall, it is for alignment - pin can be removed, if the little nylon sleeve that fits over it is missing (common) then you can just pop it out and toss it.. (vise grips was what I often used - twisting the pin out like you'd do with a broken screw)

7. If a centering pin is used, be sure to align with the
crankshaft (bottom pin in center screw hole). Install
nylon sleeve 1/8" (3.175 mm) onto pin. Position nylon
sleeve in aligning recess in the crankshaft. START
two mounting screws in blower housing 90o
apart.
With sleeve centered in crankshaft, gently push the
starter in place, tighten the two mounting screws,
insert and tighten the other two screws

I am fairly sure those centering pins were only used in very specific applications, if I remember right, some had an optional add-on alternator but I don't believe I have ever seen one myself so not sure WHY the precision centering was required.

[lefty]

It doesn't look like it performs much of a task on this setup. It just kind of dangles in the center and doesn't interact with anything. Or at least that's the way it appears.

[lefty]

I replaced the rope and all is well. Thank you.