I have the Powermate P-WFT-16022-E high wheel field trimmer. Last year it began to have a regular loss of power every few seconds. It might be referred to as a stumble. It continued to operate and I was able to finish the season trimming weeds. This year mowing was considerably delayed due to the area receiving a lot of rain. When I tried to start the unit it would run for just a few seconds and stop. It was being starved of gasoline. This field trimmer uses an A100671 carburetor. Some Homelite models use the same carburetor. I disconnected the fuel line from the tank to the carburetor and fuel flow was full and normal. I removed the carburetor and saw that there were two bolts on the bottom of the fuel bowl. One is at a 45 degree angle and the other is directly on the bottom.
I removed both bolts from the fuel bowl and tugged on the bowl. It did not come off. Next I decided to strike the bowl with a rubber mallet. This broke loose the bowl. The gasket between the bowl and the carburetor body remained attached to the bowl. I could see a lot of varnish and crystals adhering to the inner surface of the bowl. The float would stick in various positions as I gently moved it up and down. I discovered that the needle valve was not moving at all.
I used a right angle scribe to carefully clean the metal hinge of the float area. I saw the float was held in place by a pressed in metal pin. I was able to remove the pin with needle nose pliers. With the pin out of the way I continued cleaning away varnish on the float metal hinge area and was eventually able to get the needle valve to loosen enough to remove it and the float together. The valve was easy to separate from the float and I continued removing built-up varnish and deposits on the needle valve. I used a jeweler's loupe to inspect the valve and continued cleaning it until it appeared bright, clean an shiny again. The opening the valve moves in was also cleaned out. I tried the valve in its operating opening and it was loose and moved freely. At this point I decided it was done well enough to reassemble and try starting the unit again. The inner surface of the bowl was also cleaned using solvent and also some sandpaper etc. followed by flushing with carburetor cleaner solvent again.
All parts went back together easily. I did have to re-tighten the bottom bowl bolt due to a slight gasoline leak. The carburetor was primed and then after several pulls of the start cord, it started and ran smoothly once again.
The current price of a new A100671 carburetor is $71 plus shipping. My expense consisted of one can of carburetor cleaning spray, my time and effort plus some tools. The one downside of opening up the carburetor by taking the bowl off is that the gasket is not a part that can be ordered. However it would be possible to make a new gasket using the bowl as a guide to trace out a new one on some suitable gasket material. Care would have to be used to make sure that the new gasket did not interfere with the float movement.
In the future I will be more careful to empty out the fuel from tank and carburetor before storing the unit in winter months.
I removed both bolts from the fuel bowl and tugged on the bowl. It did not come off. Next I decided to strike the bowl with a rubber mallet. This broke loose the bowl. The gasket between the bowl and the carburetor body remained attached to the bowl. I could see a lot of varnish and crystals adhering to the inner surface of the bowl. The float would stick in various positions as I gently moved it up and down. I discovered that the needle valve was not moving at all.
I used a right angle scribe to carefully clean the metal hinge of the float area. I saw the float was held in place by a pressed in metal pin. I was able to remove the pin with needle nose pliers. With the pin out of the way I continued cleaning away varnish on the float metal hinge area and was eventually able to get the needle valve to loosen enough to remove it and the float together. The valve was easy to separate from the float and I continued removing built-up varnish and deposits on the needle valve. I used a jeweler's loupe to inspect the valve and continued cleaning it until it appeared bright, clean an shiny again. The opening the valve moves in was also cleaned out. I tried the valve in its operating opening and it was loose and moved freely. At this point I decided it was done well enough to reassemble and try starting the unit again. The inner surface of the bowl was also cleaned using solvent and also some sandpaper etc. followed by flushing with carburetor cleaner solvent again.
All parts went back together easily. I did have to re-tighten the bottom bowl bolt due to a slight gasoline leak. The carburetor was primed and then after several pulls of the start cord, it started and ran smoothly once again.
The current price of a new A100671 carburetor is $71 plus shipping. My expense consisted of one can of carburetor cleaning spray, my time and effort plus some tools. The one downside of opening up the carburetor by taking the bowl off is that the gasket is not a part that can be ordered. However it would be possible to make a new gasket using the bowl as a guide to trace out a new one on some suitable gasket material. Care would have to be used to make sure that the new gasket did not interfere with the float movement.
In the future I will be more careful to empty out the fuel from tank and carburetor before storing the unit in winter months.