Constipated weed trimmer

[Paddy]

I have a Stihl FS 55R weed trimmer. Last fall I could not get the dang thing started. A few years back I had replaced the carb and she ran just fine so I thought it was the same issue. No such luck.

I had Googled how to adjust the carb when I saw a reference to "most often it's not your carb but a clogged Spark arester in the exhaust system. Sure enough, cleaned it out, put old carb back on. She started first try.

So if you have 2 cycle engines that have lost power or just wont start, see if exhaust is constipated!

Easy Repair on STIHL FS38 Grass Trimmer - Clogged Spark Arrester - YouTube

 

[Looking4new]

The same goes for your 4 stroke engines too. Shove a potato into your tailpipe on the pickup/car and see how long it runs!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a Stihl FS 55R weed trimmer. Last fall I could not get the dang thing started. A few years back I had replaced the carb and she ran just fine so I thought it was the same issue. No such luck.

I had Googled how to adjust the carb when I saw a reference to "most often it's not your carb but a clogged Spark arester in the exhaust system. Sure enough, cleaned it out, put old carb back on. She started first try.

So if you have 2 cycle engines that have lost power or just wont start, see if exhaust is constipated!

Easy Repair on STIHL FS38 Grass Trimmer - Clogged Spark Arrester - YouTube

I had the same thing happen on my old Poulan weedeater. It would crank up ok but never gain the RPM needed for power. I tried everything to clean the carb but nothing helped. Took it to the shop and it was the muffler stopped up with carbon. The mechanic asked if I had been running it at slow speed and I said yes, I only run it fast enough to do the job so it isn't slinging rocks and such around so much. He said that type of running will cause the exhaust to carbon up fast. I do still run my Stihl slower than wide open throttle at times but still open it up when I need to for heavy grass.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

I have a Stihl FS 55R weed trimmer. Last fall I could not get the dang thing started. A few years back I had replaced the carb and she ran just fine so I thought it was the same issue. No such luck.

I had Googled how to adjust the carb when I saw a reference to "most often it's not your carb but a clogged Spark arester in the exhaust system. Sure enough, cleaned it out, put old carb back on. She started first try.

So if you have 2 cycle engines that have lost power or just wont start, see if exhaust is constipated!

Easy Repair on STIHL FS38 Grass Trimmer - Clogged Spark Arrester - YouTube

I've had to do this with my Stihl blower at least 3 times.
It goes from nothing or terrible running to like brand new as simple as that!
I wonder how many people have junked theirs because of the issue.
Travis

 

[5030]

The same goes for your 4 stroke engines too. Shove a potato into your tailpipe on the pickup/car and see how long it runs!

I've done that to people I don't like in the past. Use a stick to shove it up a ways so it cannot be seem. Amazing how well it works....or don't work.:thumbsup:

 

[Paddy]

Everything,

Yes I too wonder how many I have tossed over the years over something simple. I have a leaf blower that starts hard or hardly. And if it does, it needs the chock half on.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Everything,

Yes I too wonder how many I have tossed over the years over something simple. I have a leaf blower that starts hard or hardly. And if it does, it needs the chock half on.

I'm pretty sure I tossed a cheapo cub cadet weed eater with the same symptoms.
The rest of it was past wore out, so I didn't feel bad after learning the trick. :laughing:
Travis

 

[5030]

That little screen is to satisfy the USDA for spark arresting.... I toss it when I open the mufflers up.

 

[ultrarunner]

The spark arrestors cause a multitude of performance issues.

My trimmers are all used in the Spring before everything turns tinder dry...

The one in the old Echo has a big hole in the middle of the screen from years of use/exposure.

 

[JRobyn]

It can also happen when dirt-dauber hornets build nests in the muffler. This is particularly common with little 2-cycle engines with a short stub of "tailpipe" on the muffler, and where they are stored in a shed. I have resorted to whittling little plug sticks for the tailpipes and tying them on with cord so they don't get lost while the engine is in use.