Not sure if this mower is any different than my trimmer but when I replaced the pull start spring on it I needed to stop the clutch from spinning in order to remove a part that was in place prior to it to get to the spring. All I had to do was stop the piston from moving up and down to 'lock' the reciprocating parts in place. To do this I took off the spark plug then put 1/4" nylon hose in the combustion chamber till I could no longer force any more into the spark plug home. This effectively bound the rotating assembly and allowed me to remove the party easily. So as long as this mower is like pretty much all other single cylinder lawn equipment, that should do the trick. PS- don't be afraid of damaging internal parts using tid method. If the puny parts that made up my trimmer withstood this practice, I'm sure a Honda can bear it too. Also if you have no nylon rope, just make sure to use a rope that doesn't have tiny strings that easily come off of it (twine). All though honestly if done debris was kept behind I believe it would just combust with the first stroke and maybe give a bit of a hint of smoke out of the muffler. HTH.

Hey, Saxman, speaking of automobiles, I am so old that I remember thinking that it was a very bad idea when, just before World War II they quite putting the receptacle for hand cranks on cars. With the arthritis I am beginning to have in my shoulders and wrists, my next lawnmower, if I ever get another one, will probably be an electric start. With the electric start feature, you would not necessarily need a blade brake clutch feature, which I have never had on a mower anyway. My present lawnmower, which is equipped with one of those Honda 160 GCV engines, was purchased in 2000, and has been used between 55 and 65 hours a year. I use it year round, cleaning up leaves, etc. during the winter months. I just changed the oil last month, at the 55 hour mark on the hour meter. It has never used any oil in a one year oil change interval, using Mobil 1 5W30 oil, for the last six and a half years. It is a Sears Craftsman mower, with front wheel drive, and other things besides the engine have required some maintenance. I have replaced all four wheels; the two rear wheels split apart, and the two front wheels wore off smooth and lost traction. About the same time I was replacing the wheels, the transmission wore out. I replaced it, $75, with the current replacement design which looked different, but the attachment points were the same and it works just fine. While I had it apart, I also replaced the drive belt. In the past, I would have thrown out a mower that required these repairs, but I am retired now, and have plenty of time to work on my OPE. I want to see just how long this consumer grade Honda engine will last, given once a year oil changes.

I'm sorry your salty rusty. IMO its a huge waste of time being bitter and in this application, loggers nothing helpful or insightful at all to help the OP with their issue. If you are only comfortable with the antiquated flathead design of some companies lawn equip then I myself would wonder if you have trouble pouring water from your own boots, directions included or not. To say that OHV design is finniky or hokey is quite amusing as its about as that design is almost as old as the hills aswell and is quite straightforward and offers myriad benefits in every aspect compared to other designs. I'm a 30y old car salesman and have been doing it for 10y. Even though I often work 50-60h a week, I have enjoyed replacing transmissions, engines, installing super/turbo charger systems on many different typed of real cars (perhaps to your delight/dismay, mainly Fords) and also just about every other electrical/mechanical process imaginable. So to make inaccurate, broad but mostly ignorant comments about younger generations just shows the exact same traits in yourself that you so loath in mine. OP, from what I gather with the info you have provided it sounds line you broke a chunk of the threaded plug material from the mower. IMO it would be best to either purchase a whole new engine (perhaps craigslist), or find a local reputable machincr shop and see if they can repair the problem. Other than that maybe you could get a gsv160 (newer Honda motor for lawn equipment) and put it on your mower. From the little searching I did on your motor, they are not readily available and when found are quite expensive. The gsv160 can be had brand new (not rebuilt/furbished) for ~$200.

I looked at that parts site again these engines all have a flywheel like yours but use that other kind of recoil starter (why there's 2 different part numbers I don't know): GV100K1 -- LD2 GV100K1 -- NICG 28400-ZG1-T12ZA STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *R8 * 28400-ZG1-T12ZB STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *NH1* GV100K1 -- LD2 GV100K1 -- N1CG 28400-ZG1-T12ZA STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *R8 * 28400-ZG1-T12ZB STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *NH1 * GV100K1 -- NIR2 28400-ZG1-T02ZA STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *R8 * 28400-ZG1-T02ZB STARTER ASSY., RECOIL (HFI) *NH1 * On the other hand these engines all have a flywheel like yours but use the kind of recoil starter that you have: GV100K2 -- A1 GV100K2 -- A2 GV100K2 -- A2CG GV100K2 -- A2G 28400-ZL1-003 STARTER ASSY., RECOIL Confusing isn't it. From something I found on the net it said that in the states Honda was very tight with their information and that only authorized dealers could get parts and that's why they made the information difficult to get. Apparently the serial number on the mower has encoded into it whether or not it's K1, K2, etc. Apparently it designates which revision it is. Do you have the serial number for the mower itself, that might shed some light on what your dealing with. You originally said that the seller started it and offered you to "have a go". Does that mean you started it as well or just tried it out? Your subject says the pull cord was stuck, did you mean it was stuck in the pulled out position or that it wouldn't pull out? Maybe you have the correct parts and there something else to it not working?