# Walbro 26a carb problem



## Rick A (Jan 14, 2009)

Hi, all; I'm new here, live in Hilo, HI and need help saving a Shindaiwa string trimmer before the grass buries me (we had over 22" of rain between Christmas and New Years). I believe the problem's in the carb; it'll run fine when I squirt some mix into the throat. I cleaned the gas filter and the lines are intact and clear, I cleaned out the carb and can't see anything wrong, all the passages are clean, no tears in the diaphragm. It ran fine one day and the next it would only idle. Any advice will be sincerely appreciated.

Rick A


----------



## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

First, welcome to the forum, second if you have noticed most of the posts are about snowblowers so I don't think you will receive much sympathy right now.lol
If it was running fine one day and not the next rather than slowly getting worse it would seem you have and air leak somewhere or carbon problem depending on how old the unit is, to give you some things to try or check, first, tighten all bolts and stuff then try spraying carb cleaner along all mating surfaces while it is running to see if the engine tempo changes, this would indicate a air leak, remove the muffler and check the spark arrestor screen and exhaust port for carbon buildup, replace the fuel lines even though they look good. If the unit will still idle create a mixture of 1/2 fuel mixture and 1/2 Chevron Techron, enough to run at idle for 20-30 minutes and let it run at idle with this mixture, DO NOT REV IT UP or you will create more problems as the internal carbon will come loose in chunks and screw things up. You may still need to install a new carb kit, however this will give you somewhere to start. Have a good one. Geo


----------



## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Hi Rick and welcome as well.

What model Shindaiwa trimmer do you have??


----------



## Rick A (Jan 14, 2009)

Geo:

Thank you for the suggestions- I'll set to work on them. Your point on snowblowers is well taken; I grew up in upstate NY and, believe it or not, don't miss it AT ALL. Overnight temps here have been about 65 lately, high of about 78 during the day.

30yrTech:

It's a model T230X 22.5 cc. A neighbor's letting me use it if I can get it to run. I had it running OK for a short while, and today when I told him what it's doing, he told me it was doing that before. Hadn't known that when I posted. So it's not a new problem.

Rick A.


----------



## dj722000 (Oct 29, 2008)

65!! What I wouldnt do for 65. What I wouldnt do for 32. LOL Right now its down right cold hanging around so far -18 and getting colder. Wisconsin, have to love it or hate it. Hmmm need some help out there with mowing? LOL


----------



## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

You may have an air leak, T-230's will sometimes develop leaks around the cylinder base gasket. If you can get it to run long enough to try out Geo's suggestion, I would spray around the cylinder base and see if you can detect an air leak. It's not that hard to pull the cylinder loose and just take a look at the gasket, if bad they usually get sucked into the crankcase on the sides with the ports.

It's also possible that you could have a carburetor issue, such as a bad high speed check valve.


----------



## Rick A (Jan 14, 2009)

Thank you all for your suggestions; I checked what I could and concluded the carb was going to need a kit. Installed it and it now runs great. Now I can get back to some of this 12' high (I'm not exaggerating) grass. 

Rick A.


----------

