Recoil Starter; Chapter Twelve - Arctic Cat Cougar Service Manual

Chapter Twelve
Recoil Starter
All models are equipped with a rope-operated
recoil starter. The starter is mounted in a housing
bolted onto the engine next to the flywheel.
Pulling the rope handle turns the starter sheave
and moves the drive pawl out. The drive pawl
engages the starter pulley attached to the fly-
wheel and continued rotation of the starter
sheave turns the engine. When the rope handle is
released, the spring inside the assembly rewinds
the sheave and wraps the rope around the sheave.
Rewind starters are relatively trouble-free. A
broken or frayed rope is the most common mal-
function. This chapter covers removal and instal":"
lation of the starter assembly, starter pulley, rope
and rewind spring.
Refer to Chapter Nine for service to the elec-
tric starter used on some models.
Starter Housing
Removal/Installation
1. Open the hood.
2. Remove the handle as follows.
a. Pull the starter handle out.
b. Slide the rope through the handle (Figure
1).
NOTE
If the starter is not broken, do not release
the rope after removing the handle in
substep 2c. After removing the handle,
tie a knot in the end of the rope to tem-
porarily stop the rope from retracting
into the starter housing. Release the
starter rope slowly until it is held by the
temporary knot.