Broken starter rope

Author Message   jim Witham New member Username: bookworm Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2009 Posted on Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 05:49 pm:    Had a hard time starting my Tohatsu 6 hp 4 cylinder today. (It's been cool and damp where I live and I haven't used the engine in about two months.) At the moment the engine caught, I heard a snap from where the starter rope goes into the engine. Ran the engine for half an hour or so, not realizing the sound I heard was the rope, since it retracted back into the engine normally. After the engine had been off for an hour or so, I needed to start it again. When I yanked on the rope this time it snapped in my hand. I noticed what looked like melted plastic along the last foot or so of the broken cord. I'm thinking the rope may have broken earlier and happened to come in contact with some hot part of the engine while I was running it for half an hour. My question: does anyone change the starter rope annually? I bought the engine new and it's in its fourth year with the same rope it came with. The engine came with a spare rope, which I did have with me, but when I lifted the cover off, it looked like too complicated a job to attempt out there on the water.   Tohatsu Guru Advanced Member Username: tohatsu_guru Post Number: 991 Registered: 06-2007 Posted on Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 07:11 pm:    The spare rope is not for the starter...Its a safety rope to secure the engine to the boat. Starter ropes usually last anywhere from twenty to thirty years. I would suggest you take the engine into a dealer to find out why yours failed. It's not normal and whatever caused it to wear or burn would probably eat up a new one.   jim Witham New member Username: bookworm Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2009 Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 08:15 am:    Brought my engine into the dealer. He said the starter rope had retracted improperly and came into contact with a hot part of the engine, which is why it melted. I guess it was just a freak kind of thing and I need to be careful in the future that it doesn't happen again. By the way, the cord that came with the engine IS a spare starter cord. To use it, I need to take the top of the engine off and wrap it around the fly wheel. Hope that never becomes necessary.   Tohatsu Guru Senior Member Username: tohatsu_guru Post Number: 1011 Registered: 06-2007 Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 10:14 am:    That is freaky...And you are incorrect about the safety cord. There is no provsion to wrap a rope around the flywheel. Is is recessed down into a housing and has no point to attach the rope. It is a safety cord to attach the engine to the transom of the boat. Tell your dealer to call Tohatsu and learn how things work   TGuy Member Username: tguy Post Number: 33 Registered: 11-2008 Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 10:24 am:    According to the 6hp owner's manual, page 34 (Section 11, Took Kit & Spare Parts), it shows the motor comes with a "starter rope" in the tool kit. And on page 11, it shows how to wrap the starter rope around the starter pulley to rope start it.   Tohatsu Guru Senior Member Username: tohatsu_guru Post Number: 1013 Registered: 06-2007 Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 - 12:28 pm:    I hate admitting when I am wrong, but in this case, I'm partially wrong The B model 4/5/6, with the optional charging system, has an elevated point on the flywheel where you may be able to wrap a starter rope. I called Tohatsu and asked about this and was immediately told, "no its a safety lanyard, there is no way to start the engine with a rope." However, when I pointed out what both of you had said Jim and TGuy, they looked at the manual and an alternator equipped model and decided that a rope could be wrapped around that model. When I get a chance I will look at a regular 4/5/6 and see if one can fit it too, but Tohatsu doesn't think it will.

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