How to Install Rope on 3.5 Briggs & Stratton Lawn Engine

Briggs & Stratton 3.5 lawn mower engines are push mower engines with a rewind, or recoil, starting system. The rope attaches to a pulley to spin the flywheel and make the spark plug fire to start the engine. A recoil spring below the pulley pulls the rope into the blower housing after each pull. Starter ropes eventually fray, break or will not retract, and need replacing. Replacement rope is inexpensive and the installation process takes little time and few tools.


Put on leather gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself from sharp edges on the starter recoil spring. Park your lawn mower on a flat surface and pull the rubber spark plug boot off the spark plug to avoid accidental starts.


Remove each of the three bolts on the blower housing with a three-eighths-inch socket. Set the bolts aside. Pull the blower housing straight up off the lawn mower and turn it upside down.


Turn the recoil assembly pulley clockwise to loosen the remaining rope. Insert a flat-head screwdriver through the pulley spokes downward to hold it in this position. This is the point of most tension on the spring and the hole in the pulley and rewind assemblies are in line with each other.


Cut the remaining rope off the pulley with scissors and remove it with needle nose pliers. Insert pliers into the rope handle and pull it out by the knot.


Hold each end of 4.5 starter rope in a flame from a lighter briefly to heat seal the ends. Rub the end between a thumb and forefinger to remove any melted nylon rope.


Insert one end of the starter rope through the rewind and pulley holes that are aligned and out of the pulley. Tie an overhand knot in the end and pull the loose end of the rope tight to secure the knot.


Hold the pulley in place with one hand and pull the screwdriver out. Loosen your grip on the pulley to allow it to rewind very slowly.


Insert the opposite end of the rope into the handle, pull it through with needle-nose pliers and tie it in an overhand knot. Pull the excess rope tightly to secure the knot. Insert the rope through the eyelet retainer on a starter rope that attaches to the lawn mower handle.


Replace the blower housing on the lawn mower, insert the three bolts and tighten them with the socket wrench. Replace the spark plug boot on the spark plug.