# Hard to pull cord till plug removed.



## humphrey

Weedeater featherlite leafblower is really hard to get started. Cord is way too hard to pull. When I remove the sparkplug, the cord frees up and it is easy to pull. I can get it started and it runs OK when it does start but my arm is going to fall off....help!


----------



## bugman

reed valve might be the problem. your problem is like a compression release on a four cycle but i'm not too much on two cycles but thats worth checking out.


----------



## scrench

sounds like a flooding problem , is the plug pretty wett is there fuel in cylender ?might take the plate with 4 screws off carburator have seen fine stuff gather in there causing it to hold the needle valve to stay off the seat ..i always put it back togather with the small vent hole facing the engine :thumbsup:


----------



## humphrey

I will run it out of gas and then try to start. But I think it is hard to pull even before I prime it. It is strange that it frees just as soon as I pull the plug. 

I checked the parts manual and could not see any reed valve. It must be a ported two-stroke engine.

Thanks for your responses.


----------



## scrench

it dont have a de-compression valve , recoil pully might be binding up ,, still sounds like it might be a carb problem throw some money @ it get ya a k20 wat carb kit ,, i think your carburator is a walboro ,, sounds to me like it is flooding pour all the gas out of it and let it sit and see if it still does it


----------



## bugman

hmmm some do though i think it might though. had one where the only way it would turn over is to take the plug out. de-compression valve problem. i think it was a ryobi. don't think the carbs a walbro but it might be. usually it would be stamped on the carb.


----------



## hankster

If it feels like there is something dragging then it could be that you are pressing down too hard on the motor when trying to start. The blower housing is really flimsy on those and it is easy to push hard enough on the top of the engine when starting making the impeller rub the housing.

Try starting it buy holding it off the ground, the handle in one hand, the cord in the other and then pulling both hands apart.

That Poulan motor does not have a reed valve or a compression release..


----------



## bugman

yeah they are flimsy. but the engines are good.


----------



## scrench

seen one today had the same problem ,, and a few others ta: boot ,fl 1500 had exaust port stopped up would start had to destroy it to clean /plugged port = not starting=pulling rope about a thousand times = worn housing where rope rotor sits / housing was cheap 7.oo$ done the same thing took out plug cranked easy poulan =pullon lol gotta love em just my 2 cents


----------



## bugman

yeah my weed eater which is just a poulan to i bought it for 25 bucks barely used about five years ago. no probs at all. use it for hours a week and she runs great. poulans to me are good just some stop up.


----------



## olddoc

I ran in to the same problem with same symptoms last week.
Found one of the pawls in the rope starter was not engaging because the fin on
the flywheel was broken that the pawl return spring attached to. A used
flywheel solved the problem and it started first crank. Now i have to let my
shoulder recover from the jerking. Mine was a sears-poulan manf in the 70's.


----------



## roperdude91

i have tthe same model blower as you humphrey, me and another member(scott15) have that poblem, pull the plug, hold with the plug hole facing down, pull on the cord for a few secs, oil will come out, aparently it doesnt burn all the oil off, and it all doesnt make its way out the muffler


----------



## roperdude91

olddoc said:


> I ran in to the same problem with same symptoms last week.
> Found one of the pawls in the rope starter was not engaging because the fin on
> the flywheel was broken that the pawl return spring attached to. A used
> flywheel solved the problem and it started first crank. Now i have to let my
> shoulder recover from the jerking. Mine was a sears-poulan manf in the 70's.


jerking?!?!?!
i think i will stop there :tongue:


----------



## bbnissan

Once again, I have to agree with scrench on this one....sounds like a clogged up exhuast port. This is really evident if you put a compression gage on it. If you get excessively high compression, you definately have a clogged up exhaust port.


----------



## Dipstickle

good luck


----------

