Strimists Shoulder

[Fitz]

My shoulder and right pectoral are still aching after my attempts to start the strimmer at the weekend.

2-stroke B&D fella I got off Ebay for =A310. Sold not working because the starter cable was broken.

It only took a few hours to work out how to fix the thing and I used it for ages. That was back in the summer.

Got it out on Saturday to tackle the micro-jungle that has since grown where the lawn used to be and would the bugger start?

Actually, "Yes" is the answer, but only after about a zillion pulls and then mostly it just cut out after a couple of seconds. One time it stayed running, but only on a small amount of throttle. Letting it idle or attempting to increase to full power saw it cough and die.

Much fiddling, poking, cleaning and spraying with WD40 later and it still refused to sing.

Turned out to be some problem caused by the fuel. Emptied it out, put in some fresh fuel mixed with fresh oil and it started - not first time, but after a suitable period of pulling presumably to purge the old fuel from the line.

After debating what to do with the old suspect fuel I settled on burning it in a metal dustbin. Went up with a satisfying 'whooomph' :-)

Is it possible to say what the likely problem with the fuel was? Water? Particles? Stale? (whatever that means)

If I don't use it for several months over winter am I likely to end up with the same starting problems in Spring?

--=20 Steve F

[chris 159]

Sounds more like its got low compression to me. You *might* get away with fitting new rings but it could be more drastic than that. IMHO

Chris

[Fitz]

Ooo. Don't like the sound of that. Once it was running with fresh fuel it was sweet and didn't stutter once, even under load. I stopped it several times to do other things and coming back to it after a break of anywhere from 5minutes to and hour, it then started on the first pull.

Does this behaviour still point to the same problem?

If it is the rings is the reapir job as 'simple' as getting access to the cylinder head, removing the head, unclip old rings from piston, clip on new rings, replace gaskets, 'assembly is the reverse of removal' etc?

cheers

[chris 159]

Fraid so. its typical of 2-strokes. even after an hour the cylinder is still warm enough to help vaporise the fuel which is why it starts easily.

err... no! you gotta strip the whole cylinder off which involves cables, pipes, seals and all sorts of stuff. then when refitting its quite easy to break the new rings if you're not used to doing it.

is there a lawn-mower centre or similar close to you ? you could take it there to have a compression check done to determine if this is the problem

Chris

[Fitz]

Yes there is one fairly close around the corner.

If I get the same problem next time I try to use it I'll ask them to check it out.

thanks

[chris 159]

Why wait until you need to use it ? go get them to test it now - i doubt they'd charge for doing that

Chris

[mark_yh]

The first thing to check for a troublesome 2-stroke would always be a fouled plug. It could be that this was the cause of the trouble, but getting it running with the little boost of fresh fuel has managed to clean it up a bit so it's running now. Take the plug out, give it a clean, gap it and bung it back in as a first resort. In my experience, an engine without any other issues should run on old fuel with no problem. (Assuming not stored in an open container or anything else similarly silly!)

[The Natural Philosopher]

The only time I had serious trouble with fuel, was a half tankful in a 4 stroke garden tractor that had not been used for 2 1/2 years.

After putting in half tank of new, and a new battery, it ran fine till it got stolen.

The lighter and more explosive fractions of petrol do evaporate faster than the more oily ones.

Generally all my stuff starts fine - well maybe its a tad reluctant - but it goes in the end - after a winters storage sometimes on full tanks.

With 2 strokes its probably best to run them dry for storage.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I doubt that it is low compression. Or if it is, that that is something to worry about much.

In the final analysis one doesn't normally repair a cheap strimmer. The parts are almost as much as a new one.

Run it till its shagged and then chuck it.

[airsmoothed]

Or put it back on eBay;might get the tenner back :-)

[Swiss Tony]

Is it possible to say what the likely problem with the fuel was? Water? Particles? Stale? (whatever that means)

If I don't use it for several months over winter am I likely to end up with the same starting problems in Spring?

Over time, fuel loses its octane which makes it not as powerful and doesnt light as easy from a spark plug. Fixed my mates mower who was using 6 month old fuel by changing the fuel. If u leave it over winter, change the fuel when u next use it

[Fitz]

Thanks for the advice.

Oh, by the way, I found these "yo" under the sofa, they appear to be yours.

[Fitz]

I'd got it in the back of my head that the fuel was about 6 months old...

Your post prompted me to think a bit harder about this and it occurred to me that I've had the fuel since hiring a 2-stroke stone cutter... before my child was born... she's now 18 months. So the fuel and oil mixture is nearer 2 years old.

Doesn't explain why it ran ok in the summer though.

[Fitz]

I did take the plug out and it was a bit manky and wet with fuel so I assumed that I was just flooding it and put it back.

How does one choose the correct gap? As I said I got it off Ebay as a non-working item and there is no documentation of any sort with it. My attempts to get information about it from B&D fell on a deaf inbox.

thanks

[Swiss Tony]

You are very funny ;-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

warm engines are always easier to start.

[Guy King]

The message from The Natural Philosopher contains these words:

Ah, here's a man who never had an MG Maestro!

[somebody]

In message , Fitz writes

Hi,

Yes, *probably* the fuel.

I am no expert on this, I speak only from what I've heard etc and from personal experience.

I keep a jerry can of unleaded with added fuel stabiliser in the garage specifically for the lawn mower. I recently borrowed a petrol garden vac which had sat for some time. It was a git to start or run, actually unusable. I drained out the fuel that was already in it and replaced it with *not fresh*, but stabilised fuel. It worked fine (after some tugging to get what remained out of the system).

I'd have never believed it to be honest, but experience from my second hand mower and the borrowed garden vac seems to support that view.

Look here at what is mentioned in a common lawn mower engine service kit....

've heard also that fuel left in the engine can leave a glaze or varnish on the jets/fuel lines etc etc. Having used stabilised fuel for the past few years I haven't actually experienced this myself but

*apparently* it can be a problem.

More about it here....