# Poulan Pro will not start



## ollie (Oct 19, 2008)

been reading several post about blowers and other small engines that don't start and have tried about all suggestive recommendations to no avail. I was told by a repair shop that just because I have good fire it is no guarantee that you are igniting the fuel even if you squirt ether in the cyl. or spark plug if you have electronic firing and the key on flywheel broken. I don't believe that but then again if you guys say so I will be a believer. Okay, I have repaired this flywheel , which belongs to my neighbor, he has used it most of last year since the flywheel repair. I have repaired a couple of my small engine flywheels with great success by drilling and tapping a 10-32 screw hole into the center of where the broken key was and grinding the 10-32 screw on the end to a 1/8 width, never have had another problem with those keys, I was tired of buying flywheels at a $32 to 42.00 clip. OK enough said, why after carb. rebuild and numerous other efforts why won't the thing run??


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## paulr44 (Oct 14, 2008)

First, ether is for diesels, not spark-ignited engines. If it won't fire on a prime, usually that's a symptom of ether lack of sufficient compression, or marked vacuum leak.


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## Sir Thomas (Dec 7, 2013)

First thing to check is the compression. I'm told that 2 cycle engines will fire at 60 psi but I haven't had any luck with that kind of compression. Usually they are between 90-120 psi. If you are getting less than that, put a little oil in the sparkplug hole. If the compression jump up to 120 psi then it's either the rings or slight scoring. If you still don't get a good compression reading then the piston is busted.
Second thing you check is spark. You have already done that. If the flywheel is locked in the right position then you should get a good solid spark timed correctly.
Third thing to check is fuel. Take the spark plug cable off the spark plug. Prime and pull a few times, pull the spark plug. If it is wet then you are getting fuel. Also you look down into the hole and the piston head should be wet. If not, it's not getting fuel. Put a little fuel down into the hole or carb cleaner. If it fires it narrows down to the carb or the crankcase seal.
If you have rebuilt the carb then there is a few things to check. First the crankcase seal. It has to be a good seal because it creates a vacuum that operates the metering diaphram and the pump. If the gasket or o-ring seal for the crankcase is broken at all, you are not going to get a good seal. If they look good, tighten it good.
Make sure the heat dam and all the gaskets involved between the carb and the cylindar head is good and the hole for the metering diaphram is clear and positioned in the right place. Did you adjust the mixing screws? Most say to turn them out 2 turns. I'd go 1 1/2 turns and then work your way out.
If all of the above looks good then you need to look at the ignition coil. Some coils can go bad to where is gives you a spark but not strong enough to ignite the fuel. Also, did you replace the sparkplug with the correct one with the gap set correctly.


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## ollie (Oct 19, 2008)

I appreciate your very knowledgeable reply to my post. I have performed most of the check points you have given me but have failed the probably most important task, checking compression which will be my last effort to fix the varmint as I gave him one of my old blowers which I rebuilt, especially the cheap design of the flywheel.

Thanks again Sir Thomas , appreciate...


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