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pull start rope

4K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  northern 
#1 ·
I have a 1997 skidoo 380 pull start. The rope is just about shot. Is it a very technical job replacing it? I'm not real mechanical and I'd hate to pull off the shroud around it and have 20 springs come flying out. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I've never replaced the rope on a Ski Doo, but you should be able to do it without messing with the spring. Those are a real PITA to rewind.

Don't worry about pulling the recoil off the engine. That won't do anything to the spring. There should be 3 or 4 bolts holding the recoil housing to the engine. Take those off and then remove the whole deal.

Inside the housing, you'll see a pulley looking thing that the rope is wrapped around. DO NOT REMOVE that from the housing unless you want to mess with the spring. And unless you have nothing better to do than cut your hands up for a few hours, you really don't want to mess with it.

You should be able to remove the old rope and install a new one from here.
 
#3 ·
Going on the above post, once the recoil is off the sled, pull the rope out all thwe way like you are starting it. Then you need to find a way to hold it there while you pull the rope out through the hole in the recoil pulley. Have another rope handy to feed back through. Once you get the new rope back in, then you can let go of the tension and it will wind itself back in.
 
#5 ·
If you have someone to help hold the pulley, then SEG's method is the easiest. However, if the pulley slips and you lose the spring tension, it shouldn't be a big deal. Look for a notch on the edge of the pulley. Once the end of the rope is secured to the pulley, you can pull the rope out through that notch. That way you can spin the pulley to put tension on the spring without wrapping the rope around the pulley. Once theres enough tension you line the notch up with the rope exit to pull the rope out of the notch and then you can let the spring pull the rope back in.

It should make sense if you look at your recoil.
 
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