I had a chain saw that did the same thing once and we took the muffler off
and took the guts out and put it back on and it ran good. It was plugged
solid.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Kemp" <bk13@earthlink.net>
To: "Shop-Talk List" <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 11:21 PM
Subject: [Shop-talk] string trimmer engine won't run
> List,
>
> Last week my Homelite 2 stroke string trimmer stopped running and I'm
> after recommendations for things to check to get it running again. It is
> a straight shaft, 15142-R, which I believe is a reconditioned ST1725SR.
> It is about 10 years old, but mostly worked well over the years. The same
> model sold at Home Depot and Lowes for $109 at the time. I definitely got
> my money's worth, so won't be heart-broken if I can't get it running
> again.
> I used the trimmer with the stock string head around the yard then
> installed a Shakespeare Heavy-Duty Brush Cutter
> (http://www.lowes.com/pd_79979-42694-14872_0) in place of the string since
> I needed to cut more than a few weeds going into the canyon. I do not
> recommend this cutter since you will be spending $8 for replacement blades
> any time you hit the ground or something heavier than a weed.
>
> I had new gas and mixed the oil as I've done for years. After about 10
> minutes of use with the brush cutter, suddenly the trimmer lost power and
> stalled. I found I could go to full choke, pull the cord, then go the
> half choke and pull the cord and have it run normally for a few minutes.
> No choke and it died. Once I hit a heavy patch of brush, it would loose
> power and only idle. If I pulled the throttle it would stall. I repeated
> this several times, with a shorter run period each time till I couldn't
> make the engine run. Aside from the muffler area, the engine didn't feel
> all that hot when I got it back to the garage.
>
> The fuel hose was replaced a year ago and looks in good shape. The foam
> in the air cleaner was a bit dirty, so I cleaned it. The carb looked like
> new. The spark plug was fine. I cleaned the mesh spark arrester on the
> muffler exit as it was pretty dirty. I drained the fuel and looked at the
> in tank filter and it looked good. Pushing the primer bulb gives the
> normal behavior of getting firm after 6 pushes, so I don't think there is
> any fuel delivery problem. There are two adjustment screws on the carb,
> but since they have not been touched in 10 years, I wouldn't expect they
> moved. I learned from my Triumphs that you don't play with carbs if they
> were working.
>
> After this, I tried again with the stock string head back in place, but it
> would only idle at half choke. Turn off the choke and it died. Give it
> gas and it died.
>
> One of my thoughts is that the cutter head damaged the trimmer shaft. The
> brush cutter was a bit more rotational mass and quickly became a bit out
> of balance when the cutter blades became bent or bits of the plastic came
> off. Long thick grass also got wrapped up in the head and significantly
> loaded down the trimmer, requiring me to shut it off and clean out the
> grass. Will damage here cause the trimmer to stall when the throttle is
> pulled or the choke is in run position?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
>
> Brian
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