Broke the starter rope on my 2k. I usually notice when it's getting frayed but not this time. I was thinking about doing this myself, but after watching a youtube vid I decided I'd gladly pay a shop $80 to do what appears to be a virtual disassembly of the generator. Wow.. what a job. I had this done once before, years ago, and they put some of the case screws in so hard I'd need an impact wrench.It's a good thing I carry 3 of these as I do need air, and the closest shop is 2 weeks out for repairs.

A good honda add, you need three to keep one running.

Tell them to use the good rope. It been a while but I think it's black color. It's not rubbing on aything is it?

K Charles wrote:A good honda add, you need three to keep one running.You know that's the reason he carries 3 of them?

azrving wrote:Tell them to use the good rope. It been a while but I think it's black color. It's not rubbing on aything is it?It's rubbing on the entrance portal to the spool. I love my gens, but it's a poor design to have the starter rope make such hard turns into the spooling mechanism.

Honda 2000 starter rope | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

Ron3rd
Explorer III
Sep 17, 2018
2oldman wrote:
azrving wrote:
You are using the heck out of that thing. How many hours do you think you had on the last one?
Gosh.. I've had one since 2002. I could only estimate the hours but it must be in the thousands. 2 others are only a few years old.

You got me beat Oldman. Mine's from 2004. Most of the decals are worn off from rubbing in the back of the pickup. She's not pretty but she still fires up and purrs like a kitten
burningman
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2018
Changing out a starter cord isn’t a big deal.
You’re not completely disassembling the generator, that’s a little over-dramatic.
You just take off the plastic case halves and everything is easy, modular units.
There’s nothing that requires an impact wrench lol.
It’s fine to just go to the dealer but I think it’s good exercise to do it and know how. You’re generally out somewhere remote when you are using it and break the cord.
It’s nice to be able to fix it. It isn’t rocket surgery.
BFL13
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2018
azrving wrote:
BFL13 wrote:
The battery in our Honda 3000is died, not worth replacing so used the cord ever since. Handle came off and cord disappeared inside somewhere. Took all day to get the gen apart and get the cord out and all fixed right.

I changed their weak handle connection to the cord to a proper figure eight knot as a "stopper" so the handle is still there. Have not had the fraying edge problem with the Honda 3000, but did have the awkward pull angle on a small gen we had, so I can imagine what happened.

My battery died after 4 years. I bought a $20 small wet garden tractor battery at Walmart and mounted it next to the generator. The gen is bolted in the truck bed so it never moves.

When the Honda 3000 stayed in the truck bed for extended times, I pulled out the gen's battery wires and arranged a connection to the truck's camper 7-pin behind the cab. That got the gen electric start to work using the truck's engine battery (Chev, so pin#4 always hot)

That still left the rear bumper 7-pin free.
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2018
azrving wrote:
You are using the heck out of that thing. How many hours do you think you had on the last one?
Gosh.. I've had one since 2002. I could only estimate the hours but it must be in the thousands. 2 others are only a few years old.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Sep 12, 2018
Hi,

I modified my Yamaha 3000 so that I can charge the battery--or do a boost if need be. I love the Pinella remote--but it will drain the battery to dead in about 5 days.
azrving
Explorer
Sep 12, 2018
2oldman
Well that splains it. Normal wear. You are using the heck out of that thing. How many hours do you think you had on the last one?
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2018
For good quality, not overpriced, starter cord, look for Stens TrueBlue. Comes in many sizes. Usually sold by 100' spool, but I'll bet someone on eBay will sell it to you by the foot.

Getting the correct size can be trickie. Honda uses metric size cord and this is sold by number (4, 4.5, 5, 5.5) and inch.
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2018
azrving wrote:
Never heard of people really having a problem with that. Is it sitting at a certain angle or something that makes it worse?
As the rope enters the gen, there's maybe a 30° angle bend to the left, then another bend a few inches later where it enters the spool mechanism. After a few thousand pulls it starts to fray at the point it enters the spool wheel.

In 12 years I've had two replaced.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Sep 11, 2018
Look at SPECTRA line. A 3/8" Spectra is very abrasion resistant and oughta lift 4 or so tons. I bought one for a clone of Charles Atlas, and a half inch rope starts his Witte one lunger just fine.
azrving
Explorer
Sep 11, 2018
BFL13 wrote:
The battery in our Honda 3000is died, not worth replacing so used the cord ever since. Handle came off and cord disappeared inside somewhere. Took all day to get the gen apart and get the cord out and all fixed right.

I changed their weak handle connection to the cord to a proper figure eight knot as a "stopper" so the handle is still there. Have not had the fraying edge problem with the Honda 3000, but did have the awkward pull angle on a small gen we had, so I can imagine what happened.

My battery died after 4 years. I bought a $20 small wet garden tractor battery at Walmart and mounted it next to the generator. The gen is bolted in the truck bed so it never moves.

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Honda 2000 starter rope

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