There is oil leaking from the pull starter. It's coming out of the hole where the pull cord comes out. When I pull the cord out its covered with oil. Anyone know what would cause this?

Thanks

 

Dont use your quad!!!!!!!!
You need to replace the seal behind the pull start.
Mud has taken out the seal.

 

Kodiak is right, its a seal and it has happend on many ranchers.

 

Yes, the oil seal inside the recoil cover is bad, muddy water goes in through the rope opening and just sits in there,
there is no drain. then the water evaporates but the sand stays in there and whips around and tears the rubber seal apart.

There is a company that sells a lexan shield that goes on in place of your recoil that eliminates this problem, but then you have no pull-start.

I thought of an easier fix for that. Replace the seal, then clean everything up, including the recoil assembly. Then lube the recoil mechanism with wd40 or whatever. Then reinstall the recoil, making sure to seal the housing to the engine good, silicone works good, maybe hondabond works too, but silicone is cheaper. Then let is sit overnight to let the sealer dry. Now just take more silicone sealer and seal the pull start handle to the housing. This will keep the water out, and if you need the pull starter just pull on it to break the silicone seal and just remember to seal it up again when you get done for the weekend.

I have never used my pull start at all, and i will probably go in and clean mine out this spring, and do the same thing. I would only need it in an emergency, so this method will probably work pretty good.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll be getting the seal and doing the job this weekend. Any other info or tips would be a big help.

Thanks
Paul

 

I did the same thing, I siliconed around the handle of the pull start to keep the crap out of there. The only time I've ever had to use the pull start was when the battery died (old age). Since I replaced the battery, I probably wont have to use the pull start for another long while!!!

 

There is also a O- Ring on the shaft for the pullstart you may want to think about replacing that while you are in there will save you trouble down the road.

 

Thanks for all the info, I plan on fixing it this weekend. I ordered the seal and o-ring yesterday. Any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

 

you will want to use an impact wrench on the pull start bolt once that is off it will be a breeze

 

When you pull the pull start cover, is there any springs or other crap that may go flying out!?!? I hate tracking down parts in the garage that I have never seen before!!!