Craftsman two-stroke weed whacker pull cord stuck somehow (what can it be)?

[Bill Horn]

I was using the Craftsman two-stroke weed whacker and put it down to change the cutting string and when I picked it up to pull the starter cord, it would only move about five inches.

So I took out the torx screws holding the cover over the pull string, and the whole unit came out easily.

But still the cord doesn't unwind.

I even removed the center torx bolt inside, but I don't know how that thing comes apart - and - if it did - I might have a spring-loaded tension to worry about.

Can you tell me, since I have no experience with this, what the problem typically is?

What did I do wrong? What can I do to get the string to wind again?

Note: The piston seems to move fine as I can twist the crankshaft without any problem.

[Jeff The Drunk]

Take it to a small motor repair shop and let them show you what's wrong. Most of the time they don't charge much if any for things of this nature.

[Jon Danniken]

Seconded. That spring comes unwound very easily, and can bounce up a few feet in a fraction of a second and take out an eye. Gloves, goggles, and a face shield are pretty much the minimum for dealing with it, and that's when you know what's in there.

If you're really insistent, locate a diagram for that specific model, or pay a few bucks and have a shop fix it for you.

Jon

[Bill Horn]

I called Sears at 800-235-5878 who located the part for me in stock at a local store. They have diagrams and prices for all the Sears Craftsman parts at

so I could have ordered it through the web also.

Interestingly, I took it apart and found what happened.

Apparently you pull the string and that rotates the single-piston crankshaft directly; then, when the crankshaft spins on its own, two counterweights fling out, disengaging the starter rope coil from spinning at the same speed as the engine.

Something caused this disengaging mechanism to stop working, which melted the plastic on the engaging mechanism, which froze the spring up when it finally cooled.

End result: Extremely bad design in Craftsman gas weed whackers! I'll never buy them again!