# featherlite weedeater



## rickyjoseph70 (Jan 29, 2011)

I have a featherlite FL20C that starts fine but runs for a little bit and then locks up. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions I can try.and also are any parts interchangeable with other featherlites?


----------



## justin3 (Apr 10, 2007)

Are you saying it does this often and you are able to free it back up? Or did it just suddenly lock up and won't budge? The simple things come to mind.. How old is this unit and are you mixing the oil properly?

There are a lot of weed eaters out there, some have the same parts, others are different, its hard to say what is interchangeable.


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

*featherlite*

It will start , run for a while and then locks up. It smells as though it is burning. If I let it sit for a short time , it will start up once again, and then when it gets hot it locks up.


----------



## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Are you using the correct mixture ratio,40:1? 3.2oz of 2-cycle oil mixed with 1gal of gas. Sounds like that maybe the issue.


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes, I am using a 40:1 ratio, 3.2 oz of 2 cycle oil to 1 gal gas.. Need a second opinion here, someone told me that it could be the clutch(?), if that being the end result, can someone tell me where the clutch is located?


----------



## justin3 (Apr 10, 2007)

Some featherlite trimmers have a clutch and some don't. If the trimmer head stops spinning when the engine idles then it has a clutch. The clutch is normally located above the recoil assembly where the shaft fits into. You could have an issue with the plastic getting hot around the clutch, expanding and causing the unit to freeze up.


----------



## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

Sounds to me like some line has slipped behind the trimmer head, gets hot and sticky things stop. Have a good one. Geo


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

The owner now says that his son may have put the line in backwards as this is when it started to lock up.


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

Is there anyone out there that can help me get this to running properly? I looked fopr a plastic type clutch, but I did not see one .


----------



## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

rickyjoseph701 said:


> Is there anyone out there that can help me get this to running properly? I looked fopr a plastic type clutch, but I did not see one .


So, does the trimmer head stop when idling? If it doesn't, then you do not have a clutch. Can you describe the smell? Is the smell from the engine area or trimmer head? Is there any smoke?


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

There is no smoke. The smell appears to be coming from the engine area and not the head, however the engine does not feel hot. The head does not stop when idling.. The smell is like plastic getting hot.


----------



## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

No need to consider the clutch as there is not one, being the head continously turns. I would check the plastic starter pulley. Look at ereplacement parts.com under that model #. Page C #37, plastic starter pulley and # 23 coupling drive. I am thinking the coupling drive may be rubbing on the starter pulley, causing the plastic of the pulley to heat up, melt to the metal coupling and lock the motor up until it cools off.


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

I checked both the starter pulley and drive coupler. the starter pulley shows no sign of heating or melting and drive coupler is steel, so now what?


----------



## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Am out of ideas unless I could actually see the unit.


----------



## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

Run the engine without the shaft attached to eliminate the possibility of the cable or head causing the problem. Have a good one. Geo


----------



## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

My guess is the flex shaft inside the shaft has melted the plastic liner of the outer shaft so it gets hot after running and locks it up. Pull the engine off the shaft and see if you can then remove the flex shaft to see if the plastic has melted.


----------



## rickyjoseph701 (Oct 18, 2012)

Can you explain how to take the flex shaft out of the outer shaft?


----------



## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

rickyjoseph701 said:


> Can you explain how to take the flex shaft out of the outer shaft?


As long as it's not damaged, it should pull or slide right out of the housing from the top. If it does not come out easily, then it may be broken and snagged on the liner or it may have melted the liner inside and be hung on it.


----------

