B&S won't start

[chance123]

Chance,

Thank you for the response. I got a rubber mallet and tapped the sides of the shroudtowards the center as you indicated. Nothing happened. I thought I tapped fairly hard. Do I need to tap harder? I don't want to make it owrse.

Thanks

If that square shaft under the flywheel shroud moves freely (in one direction), and when the shroud is off the rope goes in and out freely, once you install the shroud, pull the rope out. You say it does not retract, so this indicates that the top of the shroud is warped. As you hit inward with a mallet all around your starter (the part that covers the pulley), and when you hit the sweet spot, the rope should retract. "That" is the spot where you need to keep hitting until the starter functions correctly.