‘55 Evinrude 7.5 starter pawls issue
Ok please someone with some sort of knowledge help me out with this infuriating problem!!
I ripped my pull string out and while rewinding it I snapped off the end of the recoil spring..sucks but no biggie. I got a new one shipped in and put it in. I have verified with my parts diagram, and an outboard mechanic that it is assembled correctly. But for the life of me I cannot get the pawls to engage the fly wheel now. They worked flawlessly before.
They move freely if I turn the center cam they attach to, I’ve just been poking in with a screwdriver to start it up on the lake. The recoil spring has grease in the bottom, everything is “clean” it looks a bit grimy still on the picture, but it’s not sticky or greasy on top. The pawls are basically dry.
I’ve been trouble shooting with my ChatGPT, and every suggestion it has is something I’ve tried already. From my understanding, the cam wheel should hesitate for half a second when I pull the starter cord to let the pawls open, but it immediately spins with the pulley. I’m assuming somewhere in there is my problem, but I can’t figure out what.
The center screw doesn’t change the problem either tight as it will go, or loose as it can go without falling out or anywhere in between. I’ve tried more winds of the recoil spring, and also just enough to pull the
Whole rope back in.
I would really like the pull string to work again.. it would be so nice to just pull it and fire her up. I’ve basically rebuilt the whole engine at this point and nothing has been this frustrating. Attaching some pictures and the parts diagram of the starter pulley.
Thanks in advance if anyone knows what’s up.