82 Johnson 15 hp manual starter

[wetdog56]

I am having trouble with the rewind spring jumping out of it's cup housing when I pull the start rope on my Johnson 15. I have carefully looked at the cup housing and can see no apparent problems with the housing. I have made sure the bolt holding the starter assembly is tight, but the spring jumps out on every pull. Just one wind of the spring comes out, where it goes through the slot in the cup. Do I just need a new spring? I was going to get the housing also, but cannot find it on parts searches. Thank you for any advice.

[tashasdaddy]

go here, follow prompts to your engine, full diagrams and parts list. then clik johnson parts at the top of the page, and see if iboats has it. if not, ishopmarine.com

[wbeaton]

I'm having a hard time picturing what is happening. The end of the spring is supposed to be on the outside of the housing. The other end is attached inside and clipped in place with a retainer. The starter is then rewound until the spring is taught and only the end loop will be outside the housing. The spring should not back out of the housing when the rope is pulled.

It sounds to me like the spring is undertensioned. Perhaps it neededs to be tightened. Has the starter rope broken at any point? That would result in the spring losing tension.

I'd take the starter apart to inspect the spring and how it is seated in the housing. Rewinding the spring is surprisingly easily so don't be scared to take it apart. Just be careful it doesn't jump out at you.

[wetdog56]

deleting duplicate post

[wetdog56]

My problem was hard to explain. The end of the spring is on the outside of the housing....that is the end that is jumping out. I think you hit on something though wbeaton, cause I did rewind the spring and when I did, I did not tension it much....figured pulling the starter rope would tension it enough for the rope to re-wind, which it did when you pull the rope slowley. When you pull it normal though, there must be just a tiny bit of space between the spring housing and the pulley which the starter rope re-winds on and one strand of the re-wind spring which has the circular bend on the end of it jumps out of the slot it is in. How much tension or how many times should I turn the starter rope pulley to tension the re-wind spring? I also noticed a part called a re-wind spring retainer clip when doing the parts search as suggested by tashasdaddy. There was not one in my assembly (or I lost it when I removed it). I assume that could be the problem and will order one. Is it apparent how that part fits? Since I do not recall how it came out, I am not sure how to put it back in. Thank you all again.

[BoatBuoy]

wetdog, take a look at this website http://www.wisnersinc.com/Fishing%20...info_main.html

Scroll down to "Normal Repairs", item 69. In Normal Repairs, there's discussion/diagrams of manual starter.

[ezeke]

Edit

[wbeaton]

I suspect you have to tension the spring more. I believe there is a procedure for how many turns etc, but I just tension it so it "feels" right. If its under tensioned it will push the spring back out the slot.

[Sailormannj]

I have the similiar problem with this spring. What is the proper way to rewind it? It is placed in the cup and the pulley placed on top and rewound with the pulley? Not sure by reading this thread.