i have a "new to me" honda 250 trx 2001, its in great shape maybe only driven 15 times, not a scratch, anyhow, i was out riding the first day, and heard an odd rattle coming from the engine, upon closer inspection i found the pull cord was mising 2 screws, and only the third was holding it on, so i removed the cord all together, now i was wondering if this would cause any damage to anything, the teeth are exposed , but thats it, i replaced the pull cord only to find it still rattles inside, so i must be missing a spring or something , thats keeps the tooth retracted, but anyway to sum up, does it cause any damage to drive with the pull cord and housing removed..

thanks
peter

 

take the whole thing off and see if u can find anything, if not put the whole thing back together making sure u tighten everything up real well then see if u here the rattle

 

i did that, still had a rattle, and it was tight, its like the tooth inside is hitting , seems like i am missing i spring maybe, , i was wondering if i could just leave it off, if that would cause damage

 

it is the whole cord assembly, not jus tthe cord,