Pat - I picked up a Ryobi brush cutter with sting trimmer heads (BC30 or
BC26 in store or RY30971 online for $149) at my local Home Depot (San
Pedro, CA) for $75. They had them marked down for clearance. Probably
not Echo quality, but it works well and was just about the cost of
repairs on my 11 year old trimmer.
My old trimmer died suddenly as well and I tried a number of the things
already suggested to get it running right. It sounds like you have a
good local place. My local service center wouldn't touch my trimmer
without a $50 bench fee. Based on feedback from the list and what they
said, the carb needed replacement. The service center said it wasn't
rebuildable because it was too old.
I normally run the Ryobi trimmer for a tank of gas, by which point I've
had enough. I recently ran it for 3 hours and 4 tanks of gas without
problems. Might be an easy option to consider.
Brian
Pat Horne wrote:
> A few days ago I was cleaning out a fence line. The string trimmer was
> doing fine. Then it was as if someone just turned off the switch, it
> slowed from full speed to stop without any poor running or noise.
>
> The fuel is fresh, with the correct mixture.
>
> I gave it a shot of ether to see if it would start, it did not
> respond. To me, this rules out a fuel problem.
>
> I replaced the plug, which looked good.
>
> After a trip to the local lawn equipment shop I was told that
> compression was low, and that I should just buy a new trimmer. They
> also said that I had a 4 cylinder spark plug in it, and that they run
> hotter than the 2 cycle plug, possibly burning the piston.
>
> I didn't think that the compression was any lower than it has been for
> years, so I brought it home and pulled the cylinder. The piston looks
> fine and the rings are not stuck. There is no scoring of the cylinder
> or piston.
>
> I connected a neon electrical test light from the high tension lead to
> ground and got a spark. Connecting the light in series with the plug
> and lead did not produce any light. I figured that the coil went bad.
> I have a spare engine from a Mantis tiller that is made by the same
> company as the Echo, so I mounted up the coil from that engine but got
> the same results.
>
> The shop said that in their 30 years of being in business they have
> never seen an ignition coil or flywheel on these engines go bad.
>
> My money is on the ignition. Anyone else have any guesses?
>
> Peace,
> Pat
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