New Homelite Trimmer Won't Start

[Jon Danniken]

Already got one, but thanks. :)

One thing you have to realize is that they typical Homelite purchaser is not going to be an experienced two-cycle engine user. They will be less likely to properly mix the gas, they might keep it too long (ie, not use the mix within a month), they will be more likely to leave gas sitting in the tank, and they will be more likely to forego the routine maintenance (air filter and spark plug) that any two-cycle motor requires.

Yes, they are cheaply built, but how much saw can you reasonably expect for $80? Despite that, I've had good luck with mine using it for intermittent household-duty work, paying attention to proper maintenance.

Jon

[diy savant]

The problem I've had with cheap chinese big box store crap is that they don't start easily nor do they stay running. Set a cheap chinasaw down for 30 seconds to reposition a log and the saw will die. Then your doing the Jane Fonda Workout on the starter cord trying to get it running again.

Do yourself a favor and toss that chinasaw out the car window on the way to your local Stihl dealer.

[Jon Danniken]

The idle adjustment screw is easily accessible and quickly fixes that problem; if you had read the fine manual you would discovered this for yourself. They are purposely set too low to keep the EPA happy, as well as to make DAMN SURE that there is ZERO CHANCE of the clutch engaging when someone sets the saw down next to the baby when they go in the house for another crackhit (you can thank the lawyers for that one).

A harder adjustment is increasing the mixture screws to be richer, because they have a limiter on each screw which allows them to only be turned leaner (again, thanks to the EPA for that one). This can cause a problem if the saw is running too lean at WOT, and will burn it up in short order.

As in most limiter screws, it is easily bypassed if you are somewhat handy (I removed the limiters on mine).

Jon

[Greg]

I have to agree with the other posters, Stihl is the best!

You can make excuses and blame lawyers and EPA all you want but I've never had to do any of those things to get my Stihl 2-strokes to run.

FWIW, I do use Stihl MotoMix exclusively so that I don't have to worry about ethanol fuel decay and resultant damage. I just keep everything fueled up with MotoMix and ready to go. They always start easily and run great.

[trader4]

On a related question, I have a 2 cycle weed whacker that would not start. I sprayed carb cleaner in it and now it starts just fine, will run with the choke off, but as soon as you give it about 50%+ throttle it starts to stall. And at that point even quickly backing off on the throttle, it will not recover, it just dies out.

While cleaning and looking at it I noticed one thing that doesn's seem right. When I pump the bulb I see solid gas going into the carb, but some bubbles are there in the return line. Even pumping many times makes no difference.

So, my current theory is that there is a leak at the carb that is allowing air to get sucked in? And that it isn't a problem at lower power but causes fuel starvation at higher power? Next thing I'm going to do is see what the return fuel line does when it running and the problem occurs. Any other thoughts?

[krw]

Use gas within a month? Who does that? ...particularly 2-cycle mix (I was lucky to use a gallon in a year, so bought a 4-cycle trimmer).

[Jon Danniken]

I mix mine up by the pint. One pint is about 500mL, so adding 10mL from a into the 500mL gives me a 50:1 mix. Between the trimmer and the saw I use it up within a month (or two if I'm being lazy, but I use the oil with the stabilizer in it).

Jon

[Steve Barker]

that guy that loves his probably doesn't have near 10 hours on it. LMAO! Try 12 or 14 a DAY 100 or so days a year.... think STIHL.

[Steve Barker]

Hello? the four cycle trimmers (at least the STIHLS) which is the only brand i would consider. Still use mix fuel.

[krw]

Hello? Not everyone is a Stihl shill. Mine doesn't use mix, rather has an oil pan. You really gotta get out more.

[Vic Smith]

You might do it differently if you run a landscape service. But I've been using my 90 buck Craftsman for about 8 years. Probably put no more than a couple hours run time on it each season. Maybe less than 2 hours. That's all I need. Never drained the tank. Never pulled the plug. Always started with a few yanks after sitting all winter, always with old gas in it. In fact, I bought the gas I that was in it at the start of this season about 4 years ago. Wouldn't start this year, so I drained the tank and turned it upside down for a couple days. Bought new gas for the mix, primed it and it started with a few yanks. Kind of disappointed me. Was looking to get a new one, with 2 strings. Anyway, it's always had touchy choking. If not fully choked and at half-throttle, it won't fire. You'd think it was purely dead. Then as soon as it fires, you have open the choke quickly, or it dies. And I mean quick. Like 2 seconds quick. Then it runs like a banshee. So tricky choking causes some engines to seem dead. I've seen the same on car/truck carbed engines, but on 2 strokes it shows up much more. Always check the choke first, then move to spark.

[Hank]

Bulb could have a small crack that you can't see and it don't leak because you have your finger over the crack, or fuel line has crack, or you need to put gas in it.

I woud replace the fuel line. This is the most common problem. Then replace the primer bulb ( less than $5). One or the other should solve your problem.

Hank

[Steve Barker]

are we talking string trimmer? With a crank case full of oil? What brand is that? It must be heavy. How's it work upside down? I really don't need to get out more. I have stihl products, no need to go out anymore at all.

[krw]

At least some of us are, though it's hard sometimes to know exactly what you're talking about, other than shilling for Stihl.

Certainly.

Mine is a Troy Bilt, but there are others.

Wrong.

Quite well. Well, it's right side up, for the trimmer.

Wrong, obviously.

No doubt about it, you're just a Stihl shill. Fool.

[trader4]

If it were the bulb, there would be air in the sending line as well as the return line. Also, I've never seen a bulb with an air leak where fuel was not leaking out when it's pressed.

It might be a leak right where the return line joins the carb. But that's where it would have to be because the bubbles are showing up right where it leaves the carb. Again, no bubbles going in the carb, only bubbles coming out.

[Hank]

Obviously your experiences are different than mine. If I were to repair his trimmer, the first thing I would do, with the symptoms he gave, is to replace all fuel lines and primer bulb and spark plug. This takes care of 90% of the problems. If he is too cheap to fork out the $5-$10 to replace these parts, he is just wasting his time trying to find out which one it is.

I have repaired unknown numbers of trimmers and 2 stroke equipment for

30+ years in a shop.

Hank

[trader4]

I was not telling him what to do. I was asking about what to do with MY problem, which is different.

Then I would think that you would agree that air bubbles in the return line from the carb, with no air bubbles in the supply line from the tank and priming bulb can't be due to a leaking bulb, or a leak in the fuel line from the tank to the bulb, right? If there is a leak, it would seem to me that it would have to be right where the supply fuel line connects to the carb or else in the carb itself. And if it's leaking at the connection to the carb, wouldn't there typically be some fuel leaking visibly when the priming bulb is pushed? It's forcing fuel into the carb, so if there was a leak, wouldn't some fuel come out under pressure?

One basic question is should there ever be air bubbles in the fuel return line after priming it say 10 times?

[frank1492]

Don't think so. This is almost brand new.

[frank1492]

Thank you all for your kind advice. Sorry to take so long in getting back. I had filled the tank with fresh fuel and left this project alone for several days. Today I bought a spark tester (easier than attempting to ground the plug while pulling the start cord.) Recall I had guessed a bad spark earlier. The spark was perfect! Without choking, I depressed the throttle and the engine started immediately. So it appears Hank and some others were right. The engine must have been severely flooded. Initially in desperation I must have choked the engine more than I thought. I feel very stupid about this and am sorry if I may have misled you. I simply could not understand with the use of starting fluid why I couldn't even get a sputter. The cautionary tale here is this: Always follow starting instructions exactly and be patient. Just a word or two in defense of Homelite. For about 20 years I had a string trimmer that started and ran flawlessly, only giving trouble very recently. It had years of stale gas (I'm more careful now) and never complained. I liked it because it had no centrifugal clutch and didn't require being run at light speed. Also simply speeding the engine momentarily to full throttle advanced the line- no need to bump or insert line stubs manually. So I have no problems with Homelite. And it turns out this problem wasn't theirs! Once again thank you all. I intend to do penance by running the trimmer against my bare leg for one-half hour. Frank

[Steve Barker]

in the future, i've found the best way to "unflood" a two stoke is to take the plug out, hook the wire back to it, lay it against the hole it belongs in, and yank that rope!. You'll get a little fire and then none, and you'll be dried out in a flash. No pun intended.