323 L Husqvarna Trimmer pull cord wont retract. Put in a new spring driver, other spring is fine. The plastic Drivers are holding the spring in its spot. I've tried the bolt tight and lose.

You may have wrapped it the wrong way. If not, your spring is either broken, the bend on the end which slides into the plastic has straightened, or the plastic spool has broken where it holds the other bent end of the spring.

It appears that the recoil spring has broken and you will have to pull it apart to replace it

if it's new take it back should have a one year warrenty on it if yo can't get it done for free get back to me so I can help you you may have a damaged windind head.

Take off the whole assembly, find and replace the spring, manuually wind up the reel until it is loaded with tension in the direction that will retract the cord. THEN put new cord in through the feedhole then the assembly, then tie a small figure eight knot at the very end of the pull cord, pull it tight so it stays in its recess and then let the cord retract by releasing the tension. - you now have a fully charged retractor assembly. put it on tightly with the three 10mm bolts, reattach the plastic cover and git mowin.

Have to take all 3 plastic covers (housings) off to get to the spring and tie the new pull rope or change the spring. Just did mine, spring just unlatched and string wouldn't retract. Did not have to by any new parts....works great! Took me 1 hour to get it done.

Pardon the long winded answer. I have had a similar same issue on this trimmer TWICE in the first 3 months. What I found on my trimmer is that there is a spring buffer/assist built into the starter assy between the rope pulley and the plastic part that engages the cogs on the motor. The plastic part that engages the motor has a hole in it to retain one end of the spring and the other end of the spring fits in a slot in the rope pulley. The plastic part with the hole appears to be poorly designed and allows the spring assist spring to fall out of the hole and jam the entire assembly preventing the rope from returning. Pulling it apart allows the recoil spring to escape from under it's cover and prevents it from engaging. Yes, removing the spring can be a little exciting -- take your time and cover the housing opening with a towel before removng the spring to keep it from flying across the room. I rewound the spring by driving a nail into my workbench and using it to retain the center hole and wound the spring until it would fit inside the metal spring cover. There's a bump in the outer winding that fits in a hole in the spring cover and then it slides over a peg in the plastic housing. The cover will retain the spring as you put it back into the housing as long as you take your time. The circled inner end of the spring should show in the center hole and it engages the other part of the recoil assembly that engages the cogs on the motor. Check to see if the assist spring is engaged on both ends before tightening the 3 retainers. All-in-all a pretty poor design that has me looking for another trimmer and this one's going in the trash.

remove the cover and the screw holding the recoil down, turning the pulley ccw should release the spring then wind rope around pulley and (hopefully yours has the slot in it) wind in the direction of the pulley teeth then, holding rope in slot put back on spring and wind cw till almost tight, and install screw. Usually you can do this without taking rope handle off. sometimes you have to remove handle. look at spring end in the middle and make sure its not broke as long as you have it apart. Its a easy fix.
Thanks for using fixya

these usually are threaded counter clockwise need a pair of channel locks to hold the flywheel then with the other hand crack nut open

Most of the rancher models are easy to look at. Take the four screws off that hold the starter cover on.When off have a look to see if the pulley is ok or one of the starter dogs(pawls) is jamed . If dogs ok take the screw out of the centre of pulley and remove it ,check for spring tension. if there is just be carful to leave sring in housing. look at spring if broken or out of shape renew it and rope.check for cracks in pulley. When renewing spring and rope get correct rope length and diameter. don't over tension new spring. hop this helps

I had this problem, and it was due to the breakage of a plastic part.  If you slide the trimmer open you can see a piece of spring wire beyond the end of the word 'trimmer'.  The broken piece should locate the end of this spring; if it fails then the spring no longer forces the trimmer blade fully shut.  As the trimmer was opened and closed I could see that the spring did not stay symmetrically placed.  I could also see one end of the spring inside the mechanism, rubbing on the surface under the slider - but not the other.
To help with the instructions, let me identify some parts: "A" is the sliding part that your thumb pushes to open the trimmer; it carries the word 'trimmer'.  "B" is the hinged part that carries the trimmer blade itself and the word 'washable'.  "C" is the flexible piece of black plastic that connects A to B and on which the central section of the spring pushes.
To fix, first remove the sliding section A: slide the trimmer open and push a thin screwdriver down one edge of the slider.  Prise the lugs that hold A in place, away from their slots. Disconnect the connector C from the blade part B (gently push the lugs outwards, one at a time). Turn over the slider A and you should be able to see that one or both lugs that are intended to keep the ends of the spring in place, have broken.  (They are on a silver moulding fixed to the underside of slider A).  I fixed both ends in place with some two-part epoxy - be careful not to get glue on the other parts!  Allow to dry completely and reassemble.