It may be that the spring is broken and that is why the cord broke (if you know the cord broke for some other reason, then I may be wrong). This morning my pull cord snapped and when I got the starter assemby off, the tension on the recoil spring was not what it should have been. After reattaching the cord, each pul resulted in less and less recoil tension, until there was none at all. You can't open the center housing to get at the spring, but I was fairly sure it was broken, so I got a enw assembly (they're about $25), installed it and now the mower starts with an easy pull of the cord . . .
John, September 2004
