Hard to Start Stihl FS 36 Trimmer?

[Bob Villa]

NOT recommended by experienced 2-cycle techs! BIGGER bang...is not necessarily a BETTER bang!

[ransley]

For starting and not continual use it wont hurt anything, the cilinders are oil coated and the either I use has oil. Plus its a vapor it wont wash cilinders nearly as bad as flooding it with gasolene.

[Bob Villa]

Well...this is only advice (and caution).

[W. eWatson]

I took it in this morning, and the "silent" mechanic gave it a shot. In about two minutes he had it running. I asked him what he did. Two pushes on the rubber ball to prime it, and set it to Choke. I think it took him about 10-12 pulls to get it to life. I said I often start with Run. He said again use Choke.

I got home and did exactly what he did. Nothing after about 15 pulls, so I switched to Run and with about 8 pulls it was running.

I think my problem is that after I've about gotten to 15-20 strokes, I prime about 5-6 times, according to the number in the book. I may be flooding it. I guess that's detected by the pull getting jerky.

30 minutes latter I had chopped down 3' dense weeds in my wife's 20x20 garden, and knocked off about 15 minutes worth of other scattered weeds around the property. Mission accomplished.

[Jeff The Drunk]

Push the prime ball ONLY until it feels stiff. Often you won't have to push it at all if you use it once a week. When you push the primer it shoots gas into the carb venturi and you will flood the cylinder if you push it several times. From your description I would push the primer twice, set to choke and pull. When you hear it fire for a couple strokes reduce the choke amount and pull again. At this point it should run for a few seconds or more. If it stays running let it run for 15 seconds then reduce the choke while running to half. If that doesn't seem to work then reduce the choke a bit before you attempt to start it. Most small engine choke butterflies have a small hole in them as to not over choke.Make sure yours is clean as it's real easy to everchoke a small engine that has no flywheel.

Your trimmer should not take 10 or more pulls to start. None of my small engine tools like saws, blowers or trimmers take more than three. Most only one. My Lawnboy 6 horsepower 2 stroke engine sat all winter with gas in it. I pressed the primer 4 times fast, set the choke and it started on the first pull. Mowers and blowers have an advantage of having a pseudo flywheel in a blade or blower impeller. Small trimmer motors around 30cc have to be in good shape since they have no momentum without ignition.

[MLD]

I was having a heck of a time getting mine started--spoke to an "old codger" at manufacturer's Tech support. Recommendation was to push the prime bulb about 14 times (vs. 7 for manual) according to him it would not flood the engine as the excess fuel just goes around in some sort of loop. Then I noticed that the fuel supply tube in in the gas tank was pointing down and at times could actually be out of the fuel while I was pulling away. I rotated the machine such that the tube was always immersed in fuel when starting and that made a major difference in getting it running. Minimal starting problem since I made that adjustment. Also, after too many pulls and no start, the tech guy said put it in the Run position. MLD

[W. eWatson]

Reduce the choke? As far as I can tell, there are two settings, Run and Choke. This may not be true though. My impression has been the two positions have a lock feel to them. So what you say above may solve this problem. I may need to use it tomorrow, so I'll check it out. In fact, regardless of the need I'll experiment as you indicate. It's use is mostly confined to the spring when I have to deal with a lot of weeds. We have 7 acres, and certain areas require the trimmer. Most of the grass and weeds I'm concerned with are in a 1/3 acre area. The rest is dealt with differently.

[OTP]

I have owned my FS36 for almost 15 years. Had it tuned up 4 years ago. Recently it started to lose power, then last week it just wouldn't start. I went to local Stihl sales/repair shop with it. They quoted $90 to fix it, or $149 for a new FS49. I retreated to think it over. Today, after reading the book carefully, I repaired it and it runs like new. I cleaned the spark plug, and air cleaner but the item that isn't mentioned in this thread is the Spark Arrester. I cleaned that and I believe it was that which made the difference. It was caked solid black. I removed it, put in in my vice, (clamping it along the margin of the little screen) and started scrubbing it with a fine guage wire brush. I kept kept flipping it around and scrubbing and soon it was as good as new. Put it in, and the engine started up with one pull! I trimmed all day and it performed like a champ. The owners manual clearly states that if power starts to fail, to replace the spark arrester. That is an easy to miss or dismiss recommendation. Total out of pocket expense =3D $zero. PS. If you want to take the rear plastic body cover off to tidy up or just explore the engine's layout, you will need a 9/64 long-tailed Allen Wrench.

[Oren]

You make a very good point. Carbon deposits in a spark arrestor or a carbon clogged muffler are not normally mentioned here, regarding it being a possible problem.

Thanks.

[Kenny]

replying to Stormin Mormon, Kenny wrote: Thanks I got my FS 36 going. I've had mine for 22 years still going strong. Nothing like a stihl!

[sdeanp]

Lots of excellent advice to be found in the comments, I won't stress anythi ng aside from agreeing that these small engines shouldn't take more than 3 pulls to start. After 5 or 10 pulls you'll save yourself frustration by jus t stopping there and taking the plug out to see if you've flooded it or if it's not getting fuel (or spark). If it started easily in the past, and now find the plug black, oily and wet looking, buy a new plug. If the plug is dry and the primer bulb is functioning okay, the carb probab ly has become gummed-up. A little trick that sometimes works for me (I work on lots of little 2-strokes that use these carbs) is to remove the air cle aner and shoot a 1/2 teaspoon of fuel into the carb's intake using an eye d ropper. It's enough to keep the engine running momentarily and MIGHT suck t he gummy crap free. If so, and there was gas left in the tank, dump it and mix up an all new fresh batch. Before resigning myself to rebuilding a carb I'll first dump all the gas and put just enough "Seafoam" in the tank to g et it through the primer system. I'll let that sit while hoping it'll work it's magic... I'll then go back and attempt to start it using the force-fee ding, eye dropper technique ~but add 'some' mixed fuel into the tank FIRST or else you might be so happy it's running that you forget the importance o f the fuel-oil mixture!

[cgem201]

My fs36 runs on only 40psi of compression This is the 4th year after pickin g it up in the junk. This year it would not start. After looking into it a bit, I found that small bees has made a nest in the muffler. 2 cycles have to breath. So after cleaning it, and the exhaust ports, it fired up after a few pulls and Im cutting again.

[Chedds In the Garden]

replying to Stormin Mormon, Chedds In the Garden wrote: I have the Stihl FS-46 and had the same problems as described earlier in the thread. Was ready to smash the trimmer with a sledge hammer after about 10 minutes of pulling and no starting...until I read Stormin Mormon?s post above. Removed the spark plug, dried it off with a paper towel, pulled on the start cord about 5 times, resinserted the plug and then within about 4-5 pulls it started right up.

Thanks Mr. Mormon!!

[Dean Hoffman]

You'll have to get on your knees to thank the man. He joined the Lord in heaven a couple years ago.