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S/N: S89312219678

As the name suggests…I just tinker and try to learn as I go. My trimmer has worked flawlessly for years now, don’t remember how many years I’ve had it at this point. I never do much maintenance to it. Keep the air filter clean-ish, drain fuel at end of season. This year, as always it cranked right up after coming out of hibernation. It ran fine for about 30-40 minutes..then started struggling. Giving it full power resulted in barley turning fast enough to cut any grass. Turing the engine vertical or upside down did really it a little more power.

Checked the fuel, air filter, etc with no real luck. It will fire right up on first pull but not enough power to do anything with. So I ordered an OEM carb and new air filter. Input it on, it fired right up and ran perfectly for about 15 minutes. Then died.

It will fire right up with first pull but almost immediately die after about 10 seconds max.

What do I do now? Go easy… I’m a computer guy that fakes my “smartness” real well!

Sounds like a leaking fuel hose or you have them reversed
Fill the tank and depress the purge bulb ( if it has one )
If air comes out the filter the hoses are back to front
If no purge bulb fill just above the return tub in the tank and see if it runs till the fuel level drops to the end of the tube
Again this means the tubes are around the wrong way
Hold it in a vice and try running without the fuel cap on, or with it very loose
Runs OK = bad cap or blocked vent .
The system is pressurised but will run fine if sitting level .

I'd check the spark plug then spark arrestor / muffler in that order. Replace the spark plug and make certain it's gapped properly. Clean the spark arrestor and make sure the muffler isn't clogged. If that doesn't work, I suspect is the issue is mechanical. That is, a problem in the area of the gear shaft or gear set may putting pressure on the engine. For example, the assembly may be dirty or require grease.

I’m providing a link to an earlier post.

I would follow Bert’s instructions first before going farther.

bertsmobile1 said:

Sounds like a leaking fuel hose or you have them reversed
Fill the tank and depress the purge bulb ( if it has one )
If air comes out the filter the hoses are back to front
If no purge bulb fill just above the return tub in the tank and see if it runs till the fuel level drops to the end of the tube
Again this means the tubes are around the wrong way
Hold it in a vice and try running without the fuel cap on, or with it very loose
Runs OK = bad cap or blocked vent .
The system is pressurised but will run fine if sitting level

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the advice.
I checked the hoses, they were hooked correctly and had good flow. I had some more in maintenance kit, so for good measure I just changed them out since they were still the original on there from purchase.

I also checked muffler and spark arrestor as suggested, neither were clogged, but I did “clean at them”. Checked the plug and it seemed fine, but again still the original one so changed it for good measure too since I had the maintence kit.

Machine yielded the same result. It fired up as normal, ran perfectly for around 15 minutes and then just died. Now it won’t crank at all.

So I’ll let it sit for the rest of the day and try again tonight or tomorrow and see what happens. It might just be out of my wheel house to fix this one, so at least I can learn more about it if I completly tear it up

tinkering_ignorance said:

Thanks for all the advice.
I checked the hoses, they were hooked correctly and had good flow. I had some more in maintenance kit, so for good measure I just changed them out since they were still the original on there from purchase.

I also checked muffler and spark arrestor as suggested, neither were clogged, but I did “clean at them”. Checked the plug and it seemed fine, but again still the original one so changed it for good measure too since I had the maintence kit.

Machine yielded the same result. It fired up as normal, ran perfectly for around 15 minutes and then just died. Now it won’t crank at all.

So I’ll let it sit for the rest of the day and try again tonight or tomorrow and see what happens. It might just be out of my wheel house to fix this one, so at least I can learn more about it if I completly tear it up

Click to expand...

That sounds like a coil. Have you tested the coil? Does it have spark? Is the coil air gap correct?

Yep, you’ve just gone way above my head. Ha. Off to read about coil and proper air gap and spark.