ZIP recoil starter does not grip the starter cup.

[earthgrinder]

I have been working at getting a ZIP in running condition.  The recoil was working fine until I turned it on its side to check something.  Now the fingers will not grip the starter cup.  What can be done to fix this problem?

[sweepleader]

I have a Zip that I did not expect to use much but I wanted it to run and the starter was like yours. The cup was OK, but no start. I took the dogs out of the clutch assembly and just touched the ends that extended out to the cup when starting with a grinder. I sharpened the leading edge so it would dig into the cup when the rope was pulled.

There are some pictures on a another thread here:
houseofhomelite.proboards.com/thread/3561/brand-new-zip

Check with Leon, onlyhomelites, or Joyce, chainsawlady, they might have parts.

Here's an IPL in case you don't have one:
www.leonschainsawpartsandrepair.com/uploads/3/9/7/9/39792537/homelite_zip_600d_chainsaw_ipl_23794.pdf

New parts are usually available on feebay too if you look for them although I don't see part numbers for the dogs, only for a complete starter.

By the way, DO NOT OIL the starter, it depends on friction to extend the dogs. (Learned that one the hard way.)

[earthgrinder]

I will give your recommendations a try. Thanks for the link to the other thread too.

[sawnami]

Here's some pics of a new one.

[sweepleader]

I think you can see from sawnami's pics (nice pics!) that the ends of the dogs are not symmetrical, only one end engages the cup when starting and only in one direction. The dog needs to be shaped correctly for the starter to work. It would appear that taking too much off the business end would also cause the dog to be unusable, when I sharpened mine I was very careful to only take a minimum amount to get the end sharp enough to engage.

Sawnami, is that a Fairbanks Morse part number on the package? Very hard to read, can you post the number?

A search on feebay for "fairbanks morse clutch dogs" turned up a couple of matches but also the warning that there are several versions and they do not interchange. The cup diameter, shoe width, and center post/hole appear to be problem areas when matching up. www.ebay.com/itm/Colt-Remington-Fairbanks-Morse-start-clutch-pawl-dog-265-center-3-8-shoe-nos-/371595937033?hash=item5684d80509:g:sE8AAOxy4dNS4wVj

[sawnami]

No, it's a Wright/Poulan part number.

[lesorubcheek]

Like Sweepleader said earlier, the biggest problems I run across with the FM starters is getting the brake washer to bite enough to push the dogs out when the starter is pulled and rotates. Any oil or grease will cause the brake washer to slip. More than once I needed to roughen the surface of the brake washer to get enough grab on the dogs. Another problem is, even with good dogs, the cup doesn't always cooperate. I think it was Lewis Brander on Magnus's chainsaw site recommended filing vertical notches in the cup. This gives the dogs something to grab into rather than slip.

Dan

[martind28]

I filed vertical notches in the cup of my 600D FM starter, but the problem was ultimately solved when I put lock washers under the recoil housing to move the dogs out ever so slightly. This fixed the problem for me.

[sweepleader]

sawnami, I just used the above diagram to put together a starter on a saw that I had disassembled about 2 years ago. Can you imagine, I forgot how it went together! Thanks!