This is my first post on the forum. I woke up this morning and went out to move my wheeler this morning in the 5 degree weather and the battery was dead, it has been getting old and weaker for a while for a while. I went to pull start it and the pull cord had no tension. When I pulled it apart everything was moving just like it should except the little lever that is supposed to pull out when the cord is pulled isn't engaging. I messed with it a little and it and its spring move no problem, just not when the cord is pulled.

 

I was expecting someone who knows Yam pull starts better would chime in, as I'm more used to Hondas and Suzukis. Usually, the bit with the lever is separate from the pulley. When you first start to pull the rope this bit stays still due to friction against the shaft in the middle, or case. A cam on the pulley makes the lever pop out, then the pulley locks together with the part containing the lever, and because the lever is stuck out, it catches the "thing" on the crankshaft and turns it too. Either there isn't enough friction to keep the centre bit still, while the cam shoves the lever out, or the centre bit is stuck to the pulley, so both parts move as one, or the cam that shoves the lever out is broken.