Ryan/IDC 31cc 2cycle trimmer

[Low Bowtie]

Recoil rope/spring assembly broke - I do not know how to get the outside plastic cover off of the engine. the clutch and clutch bell are holding it on. Anyone have any ideas? The owners manual doesnt detail the parts in the clutch assembly nor how to fix it. "bring to your nearest ryan service center". if only they still existed...

Tim

p.s. I'm new here.. hi!

[hankster]

Ryan/IDC was bought out by Ryobi and that was bought out by MTD. They still use the same basic design. The clutch drum is held on by a T20 Torx screw that you access through the opening in the end of the clutch drum. You will need to find a 6" T20 Torx bit to remove it.

[Low Bowtie]

I saw something that looked strange in that square hole in the clutch drum, but it looks like a cotter pin, not a torx screw... this trimmer is as old as the hills... like 1987ish..
I know Ryan was bought out a few times.. trying to find any information about this thing beyond the manual i have is nearly non-existant. thanks for your help.

[Low Bowtie]

the engine is now Junk. turns out the would-be torx screw ended up being a standard screw, which of course stripped. the clutch bell is bent, and the screw is stripped... go figure. thanks for your help.

[hankster]

Strange, have never seen one with a standard screw in it. Maybe someone else jury rigged it before. All is not lost (as the torx screws are known to get stripped). You can cut off the end of the clutch drum with a hack saw to expose the screw so you can use vise grips (or some such) to remove it. Just don't cut off the end of the clutch drum too far as you can also cut off the end of the crankshaft by mistake... don't ask how I know this

[Low Bowtie]

Thanks for your response.. I thought about doing that but I didnt know how far to cut it off, but I got an idea.... just need a sharp blade... Do any of the big box stores carry parts for these little guys or do I have to dig online? I would assume I could get the screw from a hardware store, but the clutch drum is a different story..

Thanks for your help

Tim

[hankster]

The clutch drum from any Ryobi style trimmer will fit. Any repair shop should have them available.

[patmac]

Hi,
I did a "clutch" search and got here.
I'm trying to remove the housing to get at the recoil area. I have the clutch drum off, which came off by unscrewing the torx screw from the shaft. Now I have the clutch assembly itself left on the shaft keeping me from getting the plastic housing off. Is the clutch assembly press fit down onto a step on the shaft? The part of the shaft thats sticking up has the threaded torx hole in from the drum assembly. Theres about 3/4" of shaft showing between the bottom of the clutch and the housing.
The engine is a Ryobi 31cc 720r weedwacker.
Any help will be appreciated, and thank you for your time,
patmac

[hankster]

The clutch screws on to the shaft... normal right hand threads.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by patmac

Hi,
I did a "clutch" search and got here.
I'm trying to remove the housing to get at the recoil area. I have the clutch drum off, which came off by unscrewing the torx screw from the shaft. Now I have the clutch assembly itself left on the shaft keeping me from getting the plastic housing off. Is the clutch assembly press fit down onto a step on the shaft? The part of the shaft thats sticking up has the threaded torx hole in from the drum assembly. Theres about 3/4" of shaft showing between the bottom of the clutch and the housing.
The engine is a Ryobi 31cc 720r weedwacker.
Any help will be appreciated, and thank you for your time,
patmac

Put a drop of penetrant oil in the to remove easier To remove the clutch, remove the spark plug and let the piston go to BDC. Insert a piece of rope or twine to stop the piston from reaching TDC when you pull on the pull starter. This will keep the clutch or flywheel from spinning. when removing the clutch, (I ues a pair of channel locks with teeth protectors to keep form scoring the metal) turn in the direction of the arrow. and it will spin off. If you keep turning and nothing is happening, you might not of used enought rope in the cylinder. It should have some resistance.

[patmac]

Hi,
I'm still having trouble unscrewing the clutch from the shaft so I can get the recoil housing off. There's no arrow on the clutch assembly, only the word "out".
Is the clutch threaded around the shaft that I see or threaded into the shaft coming out of the engine?
You speak of penetrant oil, where does this go in? In the space between the bottom of the clutch and the plastic housing, or from the top of the clutch, in, on or around the shaft I'm looking down on? The part I'm looking down on is the top and has inside threads, the one for the torx that holds the bell housing that the clutch engages.
Thanks again for your time,
patmac

[peppy]

The word "out" is the direction you want to turn to
The clutch is threaded into the shaft.
I put a drop of penetrant oil or WD-40 just to help take some stress off of the threads when I loosen the clutch. I lay the unit on its back and put it on top front of the clutch. Also, I put a rag around the channel locks( if I use that tool) teeth to protect the clutch shoes from scarring.
I just went and took a unit apart tonight for you to see. hopefully the pics help.

[patmac]

Hi,
Thanks for the help. I finally got to the recoil spring assembly, and the problem was the end of the coil spring that hooks into the housing had come out of the hold down point.
Now, my next problem is getting the coil back in! So far today I've spent about 4 hours. Recoiling, then trying to set the one end of the coil into the housing, then placing the plastic coil gear onto the shaft...with no luck. Either the end of the coil spring pops out of the housing, or I lose grip on the wound up coil spring.
Is there a trick to this? A way to coil it up, set it in the housing and not lose the coil?
Or is it easier to buy a new one?
Thanks in advance,
patmac

ps Hey Peppy, Is that your home workbench? Wish I could keep mine that clean. :-)

[peppy]

Start by untying and removing the handle. Remove the spool from the cover (be careful as the coil spring unwinds). Replace the string at this time and coil the string onto the spool counterclockwise (there is a small notch in the spool to hold the coiled string in place). If the recoil spring needs to be replaced, completely remove it from the case by pushing it through the hole located next to the string grommet. Insert the smooth end of the new spring about 2 inches into the hole. If the spring does not need to be replaced push all but the last few inches of the spring out of the hole. Now attach the end of the spring to the spool and set the spool into place. Rotate the spool counterclockwise inside of the case, this will draw the spring into the case and put tension on it. When the entire spring in drawn into the case feed the spring lock into the hole to secure the spring. The final step is to feed the string from the spool through the grommet and handle. Tie a large knot to secure. This step is made easier if you can use someone or something (small clamp) to hold the starter assemble and keep it from unwinding as you work with the string and handle. Being careful to keep the spool in the case. Hope this helps.

P.S. Yeah, thats my workbenches, I clean up after every job to keep it imaculate

[hankster]

I normally just wind the spring by hand so it is smaller then where it goes in the housing. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold the spring wound by gripping it by the outside hook and on the inside of the spring. Grip it using the end of the needle nose pliers. You should then be able to place the spring into the housing by placing the hook into the slot placing the spring flat in the housing and then letting go of the pliers.

It is a little tricky but with practice it's not hard to do. I can do it now in less then a minute. One of these days I need to take a few pics and do up some "how to's". Maybe since things are slowing down a bit I can do that.