i was just trying to start my rs4 2 and the cord just snapped where the knot by the coil is (about 10th thing to break on it in 2 months) . i took it apart and recoiled it just like the instructions from hpiracing.com and the coil just doesnt have enough power to coil itself back up again. do i need a new pull starter (because you cant buy just the coil) or is there something i can do to fix it?

That are signs that the spring is broken .. do yourself a favour and get a new one. Don't bother messing with the springs..

OMG i hate pull start problems, are you telling me you actually fixed it. Damn nice, I had a problem where i overpulled the cord and it got stuck and would not recoil. After finally spending 3 hours on the damn thing i finally gave up and bought a new one. It's not worth the hassle. $20 saved my fanny. Are you "lawn mowering" your pull start (pulling far and fast)? Just use ur wrist and little elbow. No more pull start problems for me !

Or, you could get like a starter box & all the hassle of those little lawn mower pulley things are down the drain. I hate pull starts a lot by the way.[8D]

It is possible to fix, as it is unlikely that the spring is damaged (they are either OK or snapped). All you need to do is get a few more coils of cord around the mechanism (where the cord sits when it is retracted), so that there is more tension from the spring, pulling all of the cord back into place. Unfortunately it is way too difficult to describe how to do do this without diagrams. All i will say is that you need more of the cord wrapped around the internal mechanism when there is no force on the cord (when you let go). I have done this many times when fixing a pullstart, and once you get the knack it is easy, but if you have no idea what i have just said then forget it and buy a new one.

thanks for the help, i was kinda thinking about what you said snownl!nd. i plan on trying this, i think that if i can controll my anger long enough, i just might be able to do this.

You will probably need someone to help you, it takes 2 hands to wrap the cord and another person to hold the "internals" of the pull start, to stop the spring pulling the cord back in and undoing all you hard work. Bear in mind that you do NOT need to remove the spring etc, just remove the entire pullstart assembly from the engine in one piece (use a knife or something similar to get both the "inner" part and the pullstart housing in one go). Once you get the hang of doing this it seems incredibly easy.

Before you go to the hassle of pulling it apart... loosen the screws (not remove them) and slide the pull-start around. Sometimes when you put the assembled pull-start back on they can bind. If the cord retracts when you loosen the screws that's usally the issue. Then just periodically give a slow short pull to make sure it doesn't try to bind again as you tighten it back up.