Homelite weed eater saga........LONG!

guido

Well-known Member
Hello,

I bought this weed eater 20 years ago as a gift to a family member, for $75, and it was refurbished . All I heard for the last few years is: It does not have enough power. The last 2 to 3 years, I finally started to put some money in it. Compression was fair, and it started fairly easy. New Plug and a crab adjustment and away we go. Next time New fuel filter and another carb adjustment. Next time clean the exhaust port. Tighten the carb bolts for the adapter and the carb. Next time complete carb kit, adjust the needle plunger for more fuel. New fuel lines, and In between all of this a new bump head was installed. Now with the string (.080) at proper length, won't do much at all. Cut it back and it is back to not enough power. Run it with out the muffler, no change! This thing most have a piston the size of a thimble, but it has been always like this. I have also gapped the magneto to different settings.......... NO difference. What am I missing?


Guido.
a193976.jpg
 
I still have a craftsman 31CC from '98 or so that I kept going a long time, til it needed a clutch a few years back, ran great, good power etc.

I ended up with a ryobi, a used one 2 years, with all the attachments, that one ran great, but had some odd vibration after my 2nd year, so I replaced it with a new ryobi from H-D, just the power head and it never did run right soon after I started using it.

No power, longer string, well maximum length to the cutter, (bump head) would bog it down. Run on choke but not on the run position, then hard to start. I'm like I've been taken for sure. Walbro carb, with the tamper resistant adjustment screws per the EPA or what have you. I took a butt connector and placed it on the end of a file and made my own tool. Lot of fiddling with the adjustment, runs great, but then reverts back to when it would not run correctly, like the adjustments would not hold. Tried some more with that carb this spring and seemed to have it right now, well 2 cold starts and once warm it runs without being on choke, plenty of power etc. All in the carb adjustment on this one, was a gutless wonder before, given what it is, I did not expect much, but not also to be sold something that just did not work either.
 
Hello Billy NY,

I.made a tool for those adjusters. A piece of plastic airline coated on the inside with Teflon. I don't remember the size of the hose but it works just fine for the adjusting screws you describe. Glade you got yours going.

Guido.
 
My humble opinion of weedeaters, since no one asked, from personal experience is they will send you to h311 faster than a loose woman. Hooray for roundup. TDF
 
Hello two dogs,

You got to have a little knowledge with some luck to be able to make those little rascals work. Some patience also helps......
Doesn't take none of the above to use round up. ha!ha!

Guido.
 
That's funny how you made the tool,genius actually ! I found the tip for mine on the web, just could not get this darned new one to run like it should, your post reminded me, it was all in the carb on this one. I tuned in by ear, really need a small engine tachometer and the specs on this one, but I figured if it was just junk, if I made a mistake and lean it out or something, they won't get my money next time, it'll go to one of the 2 local shops for a stihl or an echo trimmer.
 
The high and low speed jet settings are quite important for max performance. Sounds as if your running too rich. Rule of thumb on most 2 cycle motors, High speed jet 3/4 turn out, low speed jet around 1 turn out. That will give you a place to start and then fine tune from there. Much less than 3/4 turn out on high speed can cause motor to run too lean and could seize the motor up. Guess you've checked the spark arrester screen and cleaned it out. A plugged screen will put too much back pressure on reed valves and make it run doggy.
 
Hello Billy NY,

I posted a picture of the tool awhile back. Did not get any takers though. To tune the high side of the carb is easy. Here is how you can do it without a tach. Turn the high speed in for max RPM's then back out the adjusting screw untill the engine starts to gargle a bit............done!

Guido.
 
Hello Randy Shoe,

I have had it running without the muffler with no change in power. I have had it running with a very short string with plenty of power. Lengthen the string where the machine cuts it and it would bog down real bad. Take an in. Off the string, back to square one! Enough power to work but still not right!

Guido.
 
I think that's about how I did it this time, knew it was something like that, learn something new every day !!
 
You say compression is fair and it's 20 years old . I would find out what the compression should be and check engine and see how much it does have. She maybe wore out.
 
You say it has good compression, but that doesn't tell us much. Put a compression gauge in and pull the rope about 8 times. If it doesn't go over 130, its done.
 
I talked to a long time mechanic that has repaired 2-cycle garden equipment for years. I asked about a couple of my older Homelite chainsaws acting much like you describe your weed eater. He said with age and wear the seals around the crankshaft start leaking compression especially after warm-up...so with lower compression - loss of power, hard restart if at all. Next time on cold start might fire up perfect...just to keep you puzzled LOL. He said those seals are not available for replacement at least not for older Homelite according to him. I have done my own search and have not found any.
 

I found one almost exactly like yours pictured at the scrapyard Guido . It was almost brand new , exhaust didn't even have soot in it, took it home thinking it would be a straightforward fix , [u:ac3437b5d9]wrong [/u:ac3437b5d9]. I have never worked on such a piece of P@@ before , everything I touched either broke or refused to go back into place . A rare thing for me , I tossed it back into the yard !
 
What are you using for fuel? Your 20 year old machine was not designed to run on Gasohol or the modern Ethanol filled gasoline. The premixed ethanol free gas that you can buy in metal cans in the store are also low quality fuels. Find a gas station that sells Ethanol-free gas and mix your own fuel, you will be surprised by the change in performance.

This past spring I tried an experiment with a 20 year old Poulan and a brand new Stihl MS440. They both ran on the premixed fuel in a can, but the performance was mediocre at best. When I finished the can, I mixed my own with Ethanol-free premium. Both saws came alive.

Good luck.
 
Hello Two Dogs,

I have not given up yet!
Stick around....I may get the last laugh,

Guido.
 



I've worked on several of those or similar ones. Off the top of my head- try lubing the shaft. I put a grease fitting in one of mine and pumped 40wt into the tube. Seemed to help a lot. Other than that, crank seals, bad carb, fuel lines that are gummy and sucking down and pinching, stuck ring or it's just plain worn out. If you don't have at least 100-120 psi wet then it's toast.
 
I have a homelite weed whacker that I bought in 1987 and it still runs strong never did anything to it but replace the string and string head. My wife has threatened to take it away from me because I have ruined some of her plants in the past.
 
Hello,

A couple things I forgot to add to the original post. When I had the muffler and the carb off, I checked the piston and the ring. All were O.K. I also check for wear in the piston pin and the crank rod for wear......No play. There is no issue with the gas that I know of, I use 89 octane since the regular unleaded is only 87. High test is fine too for those who want to use it. I have no reason to use it so far. Compression is not an issue either, when pulling on the rope it ratchets every time it comes to compression. Never seen A small engine with 130# pressure. My rule of thumb is 15 pounds pressure for a 1 to 1 ratio Assuming it has a 6 to 1 ratio that would bring it to about 90# More then enough for a small engine for what I have seen. I will check a good running
engine just to see what the compression is for comparison,
Guido.
 
Hello Billy NY,

A leaned out carb is usually fine at 1/2 throttle. When used hard then............POOF!

Guido.
 
If a 2 cycle engine is in good shape the compression should run 120-150 lbs. If yours is at 90 lbs. it will run but will lack power under load.
 
I'll second the 120-125 pounds compression. 90 pounds is way low for a 2 stroke engine. 110-115 pounds would be absolute minimum for almost any 2 stroke engine, and that's probably too low to run correctly on a motor that small. If you can find the engine specs, the odds are that the piston to cylinder gap is over the max, and the ring end gap is also over max. Most 250 cc. two strokes call for a maximum cylinder to piston gap of .0025 to .005. I would guess that on a motor that small anything approaching the high side of .002 would be way too much gap.

I am assuming you have eliminated the possibility of a too rich/lean fuel condition. I am also assuming you have an airtight engine with good crank seals and carb boot, etc.

When you get all said and done, something that cheap that is that old is probably a good candidate for the trash bin.
 
Hello d beatty,

Are you saying that you have done compression test on an engine that small.and the reading was that much. A couple of weeks ago I did a compression on.an.engine that was missing. The compression ration o. That engine is 10.5 to 1. The readings for that engine we're between 140 150. One cylinder was 135. At the rule of thumb I stated earlier the engine should have about 160#. after 150.000 miles it would lose a bit of compression.
That engine had a bad coil pack. I changed all of them the engine came back to life.

Guido.
 
Hello Donald Lehman,

My experience with these small engines has been that you.need at least 50# of compression for the engine to start. At that low compression it take a lot longer to start. But ones fired up I've had many with that low compression run just fine Anything above that is ofcourse much better. The engine starts just as easy as a perfectly Good running air cooled engine out there. It just lacks the pow power that's all,
I have one more thing I'm going to try, not giving up yet!<
I'll post back.....
p>Guido.
 
Hello charles in Aus,

But you got to have some patience.!!!! This brand of machines is the only brand that I
spend hours on their repair. All others is usually minutes. Did you know that the fuel
line is not the same 0.D. as all the rest. YEP! .020 more. I'm going to have to think
out of the box on this one. At $75 and 20+ years it owns me nothing. But it's a
challenge. I know there is more life left. This machine has not beat me yet,

Guido.
 
I was giving you the specs on the compression for a 2 cycle engine to get the best performance of engine ( 120-150 lbs,). Your engine at 90 lbs. will start,idle and will rev up but won't have full power under load.If a 2 cycle engine gets to 60 lbs. and below you will be lucky to start it let alone have any power to do anything with it.
 
Hello d beatty,

Are those specs readily available? I would appreciate a link. I'm only going by the college of hard rocks!

Guido.
 
Wow. I have many small engined machines including two 1970's era McCullough chain saws all of which run on e10 with no issues whatsoever.
 
I had a boat motor that didn't seem to run as hard as it should. Took it to a real shop and they immediately spotted the problem - guy I bought it from had apparently put way too cold a spark plug in it. What does the chart call for? Replacing the plug with the same (like I did) doesn't help....
 
Hello Bud in Fl,

I had a E3 plug in it a year of two ago no change in power. I just put in the old one in this year. That is the one in it now, it's a good one,

Guido.
 

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