Thanks. My craftsman mower with a Honda engine makes exactly the same sound. I was worried the engine was going bad. Guess it's not just toro engines that do this
I’ve tried other remedies in the past that worked for a little while but eventually the noise came back. This fix seems to be the one that finally stopped that irritating noise coming from the recoil.
Nice to know - thanks. Especially the part about the reverse tightening. Is this something that just develops over time? My TM is only a year old and I haven't heard that yet. Would only highly suggest using safety glasses when using a grinder. I know someone who effed up his eye doing something similar.
One of the nuts came off that was holding the rope starter recoil assembly down. I matched a bolt to one of the other nuts (I thought), then found a nut to fit that bolt. I then used that nut to replace the one that I lost. It froze on the bolt and wouldn't back off, so I tried to screw it on down and it snapped off. I screwed the broken bolt out, but now can't find a replacement ANYWHERE. Called Toro and they were useless. They said they wouldn't sell me a bolt unless I was licensed to work on their products. Do you know where I can find one of these bolts or what the part number might be?
Sorry to hear that. I’m sure you are very frustrated. Email me a photo of what you need and I most likely have one laying around in my shop. I can ship it to you if I have it.