Hi Loger_gw,

Thanks for the response. I did remove & clean the entire cable when looking for the "bluing". I did not see any abnormal wear marks. I can spin the cable from behind the cutting head and can feel some drag from the cable waiting the shaft as well as the flywheel rotating. I am repairing for a friend of mine so I'm trying to avoid fixing via the shotgun approach. I find your initial point quite interesting but I suspect I would fine wear marks on the shaft if this was the case.

Thanks.

Add a light amount of spray paint or dye onto each shoe contact surface or inside the clutch hub. Fire up, accelerate and see if you see signs of contact/torque.

Did you pry the shoes out of their seating positions to know they are free? Is the RPM high enough to force the shoes to engage?

Hi Loger_gw,

Great tip. Thanks!! I did not pry out the shoes. I will need to do that too.

Hi Loger_gw,

Thanks for the tips. I cleaned and checked it out. it almost seem like the shaft is not engaging the cutting head bearing index far enough. Almost like the shaft is too short. I engaged it into the cutting head bearing first and then assembled and it seems to be working okay for now.

1. IMO the cable should be engaged ½”- 3/4” at least in both ends.
2. You should get good fits on both ends with the shaft’s ends fully seated.
3. Otherwise, check to see if a cable’s end has broken (in the clutch or spool).
4. A broken end should be fairly easy to spot or compare cable ends if needed.
5. OR! A retainer clip could be missing that should regulate the depth at the spool.

if it stops spinning again, hold the head while someone gently gives it gas and listend down teh shaft for where the rattle ends (the last part spinning). Ive seen a curved shaft where the tube holding the shaft wore out so that the flex shaft is not centered so it is not long enough to reach anymore. If it is just a worn out clutch, it should spin a little at least.

Thanks Outsider1