i have a craftsman model #536.881800 it has a 8 horse briggs ohv on it.since i have never seen a ohv before i have no clue about them.his recoil doesn't engage when pulled,it has electric start,but that doesn't work either. this abuses very bad.and its been below zero here for almost a week.what do i have to take off to get the recoil off?he has almost an inch of ice all over the machine,it's now nestled in my very warm garage.could the ice have an effect on this problem? thanks.don
Ice is very much the likely cause. The recoil engagement dogs/rollers/$#%* are likely frozen in their normal resting position. Therefore, when the recoil is pulled, centrifugal force will not allow them to move into the engagement position. Once you thaw the machine out, it will probably work. As for the electric start, I don't recall ever having a problem with ice causing problems there unless the engagement mechanism of the starter is frozen. Never heard of that before however. Maybe the electric start is just shot. Put some additional heat to the recoil area and it should free up. When it does, you can start it to let the engine heat work on the rest of the ice and dry what's left inside the recoil housing. Blast some WD-40 into the recoil housing as well.
