How to Start Lawn Mower When Pull String Breaks
If your lawn mower pull string breaks while you are trying to cut your grass, you can repair it yourself with a little time and effort. In just a few steps, you will be able to fix the appliance without hiring a costly handyman, or having to take it to an expensive repair shop.
Unscrew the coil housing for the rope using a socket set or screwdriver. Do not tip the mower over on its side when working on it because this can often cause oil and gas to leak out.
Check out the coil wheel. Depending on where the rope broke, you might have some rope left on the coil wheel. You can feed the old rope back through its hole and retie the pull handle if you have enough rope to pull start the mower. Next, replace the housing and then screw it back in place. If you do not have enough rope, you will need to replace it with a new one. You can take a wrench and loosen the bolt that holds this in place. When you pull the wheel off, in most cases it will include the winding spring that coils the rope automatically.
Loosen the bolt that holds the coil pulley in place. When you take off the coil pulley, the coil spring will come off with it in most cases. Cut off the old rope using a knife. To remember which way the rope was coiled, make an arrow with a marker.
Pull the new rope through the hole and tie a knot about the same size as the old rope because you do not want the new knot to catch on something when the coil pulley coils and uncoils. Wrap the new rope in the direction of the arrow you drew. Next, bolt the coil pulley back in place. To make sure it is working properly, unplug the spark plug -- this allows you to pull on the rope to make sure it coils and uncoils correctly.
Pull the end of the rope through the hole in the housing. Tie the old pull handle to the end of the new rope. If the rope is too long, you might need to cut off the extra length and discard it. Place the house into its spot and screw or bolt it back on. Finally, put the spark plug wire back into place.
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Writer Bio
Elizabeth Arnold has written for a wide variety of publications and websites. Her experience includes writing travel features for "Recommend" magazine and packaging marketing copy for both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. consumer products. Recently, Arnold was a staff writer for "Special Events" magazine. Arnold studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
