'01 Polaris XC 500 start rope broke

[riverbasher]

I broke the start rope right at the end of the pull this weekend. Does anyone know how to fix this? Is it easy to do? Thanks

RB

[hanson]

riverbasher-

It is fairly easy.

Of course the recoil is on the right side of the motor. You will probably have to pull the exhaust pipe off to get at it easily. Then its a matter of pulling a number of bolts off and removing the recoil & housing.

When you flip it over, you'll start to see the inner workings. There is basically a pulley that the rope wraps around. If you didn't break off too much, you may be able to utilize the same rope again.

You'll have to find the end of the rope and pull out about 6-8 inches inside the housing. There will then be a notch in the pulley. Hook the rope inside this notch with the 6-8 inches hanging free. You then have to preload the spring inside of the housing by rotating the pulley with the rope counterclockwise a number of times. You'll know when you are getting the tension up there because the pulley will be hard to turn.

You then have to unhook the rope from the little notch (without having the entire pulley unwind on you, remember its under tension now), and feed it through the hole in the recoil housing. I tie a loose knot in the rope at this point to keep it from springing back into the housing.

Put the recoil back on the engine and tighten the bolts back down. Then pull the rope up through any guides and tie the handle back on.

Put your pipe on and away you go.

I would suggest getting a Clymer service manual for your sled. It should detail this procedure step-by-step with photos.

It is fairly easy but if you've never done it before, you may run into a few problems.

[riverbasher]

Thanks Chris. I'm assuming the hole in the housing you are talking about is the hole at the top with the threads in it?? Is something supposed to screw in there? I've got most of the rope, as I said it broke right at the end of the pull. I'll tear into it Wednesday night and let you know how it went

[eyes']

It isn't to bad...I broke mine 2 times now on my XC but the first time it broke the recoil spring broke too so as long as its not broke its just a matter of winding it back up....

good luck!!! it shouldn't be too bad

[Knotwood]

When you preload the spring, make sure you bottom out on the end of the rope, not the end of the spring. Leave a turn or two less than total spring bind to be safe, and make sure the amount of rope you put on doesn't chafe the housing when it is fully recoiled.

[riverbasher]

Successful installation over the weekend. I made the new rope a little shorter than what it came with but with the shorter pull it seems to start better. Thanks for the help guys

[hanson]

Glad we could help you out Riverbasher.

I don't know if its a bad omen or not but the recoil rope on my 92 EXT snapped this weekend. Dohh!! Now I can practice up again.

[lgs]

Riverbasher make sure that the rope guide is still threaded into the recoil housing where the rope goes through or the rope will just break again

[riverbasher]

I'll have to check that because all I saw in the housing is a hole with threads in it.