I see from these forums tat there are a lot of pull starter failures and snapped cords. The first time mine snapped was at the top, so I just shortened it by about 2 inches and it worked fine. The next time it snapped, which was today after a few days of rain and it went before I even had chance to run it and I was a bit peeved to say the least as it snapped right down at the bottom end. I sat and counted to ten before throwing it into the road under a Peterbilt, then I had a brainwave. I cut the cord off my mini-blind in the bedroom, stripped down the pull starter and replaced the broken cord with the one from the blind. It is slightly thicker than the original cord but fits through all the holes fine and is also stronger. From snapping to fixing and driving took only 30 minutes and I was a very happy camper. I just wanted to pass on the hint to anyone who has had similar problems. The spool even came out of the pull starter casing whilst leaving the spring in place. I wound the cord around the spool, put the spool back in the casing and never even had to rewind the spring. Today was a good day!!! Hehe