Hi!
I am a true rookie when it comes to engines, so I would kindly ask you to bare this in mind if you decide to answer this thread! But my all means try to cure me of my ignorance, I am here to learn
I own a 1977 outboard Johnson 6HP engine. I've owned it 5-6 years now, bought it second hand of an old man who spent his time fishin in the brackish waters of the swedish eastcoast. Now however, both the boat and the engine spends their time in a fantastic sweet water lake where I spend my summers swimming and fetching with my old dog!
Last summer my engine lost a lot of power, I got to where I needed to go but it was painfully slow and the engine stank. A friend of mine helped me deduce that it was only running on one cylinder and we managed to fix the sparkplug wires to the point where they both now ignite (wehay progress)! However the rewing recoil starter has worn down and I need to replace it and herein lies my problem.
I've found the following part that I need to change, which is mainly the black plastic pinion (number 5 in the image below). But we noticed that the spool (number 6) wasn't tight, it was wiggling in its hold (se the video link). We had a look at the spool and it seems the top of the spool (se picture showing the top) has a worn down plastic layer (see the picture of the bottom spool for reference). Our second observation was that the very bottom of the pool (the metal rod which the spring is rolled around) has a space which isn't very even.
My questions are, do I need to order a new spool? or is there another way for me to fix this issue? The very bottom of the spool (the uneven cut), is it supposed to look like that and does it matter?
Thank you in advance
Kind regards
Magnus Chirgwin
I am a true rookie when it comes to engines, so I would kindly ask you to bare this in mind if you decide to answer this thread! But my all means try to cure me of my ignorance, I am here to learn

I own a 1977 outboard Johnson 6HP engine. I've owned it 5-6 years now, bought it second hand of an old man who spent his time fishin in the brackish waters of the swedish eastcoast. Now however, both the boat and the engine spends their time in a fantastic sweet water lake where I spend my summers swimming and fetching with my old dog!
Last summer my engine lost a lot of power, I got to where I needed to go but it was painfully slow and the engine stank. A friend of mine helped me deduce that it was only running on one cylinder and we managed to fix the sparkplug wires to the point where they both now ignite (wehay progress)! However the rewing recoil starter has worn down and I need to replace it and herein lies my problem.
I've found the following part that I need to change, which is mainly the black plastic pinion (number 5 in the image below). But we noticed that the spool (number 6) wasn't tight, it was wiggling in its hold (se the video link). We had a look at the spool and it seems the top of the spool (se picture showing the top) has a worn down plastic layer (see the picture of the bottom spool for reference). Our second observation was that the very bottom of the pool (the metal rod which the spring is rolled around) has a space which isn't very even.
My questions are, do I need to order a new spool? or is there another way for me to fix this issue? The very bottom of the spool (the uneven cut), is it supposed to look like that and does it matter?
Thank you in advance
Kind regards
Magnus Chirgwin

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