OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines How to Remove the Recoil spline on a Briggs

hey guys got briggs 3.75 here and im stuck as to how to remove the spline under the recoil houseing that bolts to the top of the fly wheel do i need a special tool and would it be threaded clockwise or counter clockwise ive icluded a pic to help id this bit im stuck trying remove any imfo would help heaps guys thankyou

Remove the two 1/4 inch bolts that hold the mesh on and gently using a drift tap it anticlockwise with a mallet, it will come off moderately easily.

thanks joe.... ill do exactly that and see how we go

Make sure the drift is softer than the spline, which means it should be aluminium or brass. The awkward part of this operation is that the thread is on a much larger diameter than the spline, so you are hitting the spline much harder than if you were able to apply the torque at the thread's diameter. If you were doing this regularly it might be worthwhile making up a version of B&S tool number 19114. See figure 10 on this page in the overhaul manual:
http://www.tpub.com/content/recoveryvehicles/TM-5-4240-501-14P/css/TM-5-4240-501-14P_82.htm
Even if you did that I personally would not use the B&S flywheel holder for this job. Instead I would hit the handle of the 19114 tool with a rubber hammer. However the flywheel holder is useful for other jobs.
If you happened to have a strap-wrench that would fit the outside of the threaded section at the base of the splined part, that might be the best solution of all.

I remove them simply by tapping them with a screwdriver and a heavy mallet all the time and dont break anything, usually 3 or 4 solid sharp taps gets it moving then undo the rest by hand.

I have damaged one while trying to remove it.

I use a pin punch, its stainless steel, picked it up of the ground at the scrap yard.

Through the fins on the flywheel, tapping on the body of the housing.
Its a good idea to take the tin plate of and all the balls and stuff out. Clean all that stuff up before you put it back together.



Thanks for the link to the pics grumpy. I might have a go at making something up.

Bob, here is a better view of the 19114 tool (and the flywheel puller too, because it was too much work to get it out of the picture).



It is a better illustration of how it is designed than the diagram showing how to use it was (in my opinion at least). Looks like one of my traditional file-the-end-of-a-piece-of-pipe-and-weld-on-a-handle jobs. Since it happens to have 4 notches it would be even easier to just end mill it in the mill vice.

Whats that i hear you say???

Put a bit of pipe in the vice and hack at it with the angle grinder.


Will have to check my pipe stocks.


It could also be possible to use a bit of round flat plate and pickup the small holes that hold the cover over the sprag. So long as they are done up tight and the spindle is used as a locator they should be solid enough.

I grew up in a family of professional engineers with a comprehensive home workshop Bob, so my psyche was shaped from an early age. I can't deal with tools that don't fit like the gears in a Swiss watch. (Hangs head in shame.)

OK id probably rough it out with the grinder and clean it up with a file.


If that makes you feel any better. lol


No engineers in my family.

The toughest part, Bob, is when they keep telling you that you should never make anything without drawing it first. I never could bring myself to draw things that I was going to make myself, unless I was unsure that the geometry was feasible. I did, and do, usually sketch them though. I'd rather do the thinking before the cutting, rather than after. Unfortunately I then tend to have a better idea or two part way through the construction, and keep redesigning as I go. Working to a settled design is just way too boring to contemplate.

Whats the old adage grumpy, measure once, then measure again before cutting...I had a old mate help me swing a new back door that had to have a little trimmed off to fit the door frame....He measured then proceeded to cut only to find that he misread the measurement consequently the door is 1/2" short of the jam...expensive lesson!!

Yes, I did something similar a couple of years ago Darryl. Needed a new screen/security door. I measured it up fairly roughly, then toddled off to Bunnings for a door. I found they had both inch and metric versions, only a few mm different. I decided for no good reason that a 1970s house would probably have inch dimensions, and got that size door. Wrong of course. Now it's kind of a loose fit in the frame. Only large-calibre flies are completely excluded.

Measure twice, cut once.


Ive got a door in my back porch thats an inch too short. Whooops.
I think i added when i should have subtracted when i was doing the door frame. By the time i hung the door it was way too late.




As far as the flies go, got bad mozzies here. One of those auto sprayers going the back porch makes a huge difference.


I must be an artist. I like to draw on what it is that i cut. Measure and scribe and get the grinder out. I have been known to rough out a sketch before i tackle the big jobs. Sometimes doesnt help, made the frame rails over 10mm too narrow for my tralier, was a fair bit of jumping and hammering to get the mesh in place.