Weed eater trimmer - line won't spin fast enough to cut anything

[jessman1128]

Hello.

Weed Eater FX26SC (one of the cheapest models). Purchased it last year and shortly after buying it something broke and the line wouldn't spin fast enough to cut anything. Took it to the local authorized repair center and they fixed it under warranty. Well, the same problem popped up again just the other day and it's no longer under warranty. I've been told it'll be cheaper to buy a new one than pay someone to fix this. Hoping to fix it myself. I have the trimmer taken apart - took apart the shaft pieces and took off the engine cover. Not sure what to look for though. The shaft pieces all appear to be fine. The engine does sound a little rough when pressing down on the throttle, although it does accelerate. Is my problem with the engine itself or am I missing something in my inspection of the shaft pieces?

Any suggestions on what the problem might be? Thanks!!

 

[ILENGINE]

As a authorized poulan/weedeater service center I have seen on multiple occasions that the shaft doesn't lock in the handle properly and the shaft will slide out about half an inch and the drive cable will come out of the driver sprocket at the engine. make sure the shaft is fully pressed into the handle because that could be the problem. The other thing that could be wrong is the shaft is broke at the head end but you may not know that without pulling the drive cable out of the shaft.

 

[jessman1128]

That does appear to be the problem - that the shaft was coming out of the handle. I put it all back together and it worked for a few seconds then it acted up again. Firmly pulled the shaft up into the handle and it worked again. It keeps slipping out though. What's supposed to keep the shaft from slipping down? Is it the screws in the throttle housing? The spring clip in the bottom of the fan housing? Or something else entirely?

 

[ILENGINE]

Some use the spring clip with a screw that tightens the plastic around the shaft. Others use a short screw that screws into the shaft.

 

[jessman1128]

This one has the spring clip with the screw through it. I put it back together, made sure the shaft was locked into place with the spring clip, and that the shaft couldn't pull out. It ran quite nicely for about 15 minutes, then the line suddenly stopped spinning altogether. The shaft is still firmly in the handle so I don't know what the problem is now. It doesn't spin at all. I guess I'll have to tear it apart again and see if I can find something else wrong with it.