i have a 01 rancher es and the recoil will not go back in. if i still ride in water/mud and some water gets inside the hold, will it hurt anything? im going to try to fix it, but i cant get to the back of the engine to take it apart. do i have to take the plastic and all that stuff off just to get to it? is there a way to get it to go back in w/o taking it apart?

 

ok, i just took it apart, cleaned it out, and soaked it in some liquid wench. it took forever to get it off and when i got it back on there, i pulled but it would not catch to turn the engine. i kept on pulling it, and it is catching about 7 out of 10 times. but it cranked and went back in(so im not taking it off again, you know what i mean? lol). there is a little bolt on the inside in the middle that holds a little cover, i loosed it and it works. will it be ok to not have it completely tight? all i gotta do now is get my dad to stop by somewhere and pick me up some waterproff silicone so i can seal it up.

oh yeah, for those wondering...there IS a drain hole in the bottem of the cover, should i seal it up too? of will it allow mud in it?

 

My buddy's Rancher has the same problem, I think I will do what you did, take it apart and soak it in some lubricant. Did you clean the pull rope too??, you should if you didnt, I am going to clean it in soap & water so the dirt on the recoil rope doesnt affect it anymore. The silicone sounds like a good idea.

 

nope, i didn't even think about cleaning the rope. but if i ever have to do it again im sure i will

 

i have had the same thing happen to me but the reason my rope did not go in is because the spring was broken. but yours is new so you should not have that problem