Danny D. wrote:
Pulled the Honda/Craftsman cord to start 'er up, and the cord has very
little tension on the return stroke.
http://i.cubeupload.com/q5oXeb.jpg

Pull stroke seems reasonably normal but the string won't rewind all the
way.

Leaves about a foot to a foot and a half loose.
What makes it go tight? Springs?
Pulled the cord, and the string doesn't go back.
I can coax it back most of the way, but then when I pull again, it
doesn't
go back.

Any debugging hints?

Yes, there's a spring, obviously. The idea (starting fresh) is to wind
the spring up manually, hold it (tie it off) so you can attach the cord,
and then let it reel in the cord to see whether the tension was
appropriate. In your case, you obviously have the alternative choice to
shorten the cord--but do it right and re-install the cord as suggested
above. Probably a video of the process on youtube. Good luck!

Bill