# Echo HC-150 Hedge Clippers will not start



## WannaEngine (Nov 7, 2010)

Today I replaced the plug (old one was pretty gunked up, but still sparked). It has new gas/oil mixture. 

If I give it multiple pulls, oil/gas starts dripping out of muffler. If I let it sit, oil/gas will also leak out of the air filter (small puddle on garage floor, which will turn to purely oil). Yesterday it did run for about 1 second. Today I can get nothing.

I retreived the parts manual from the echo site, and the carb is listed as a RB-K75. Would this appear to be a carb problem? Fuel lines appear to be fine, and primer bulb seems to be moving fuel freely. All testing is with air filter off.

Should I attempt a rebuild (I did a lawnmower carb before, with good results).... BUT if this thing has Welch plugs, I may just opt for a new carb, as they were a pain.

Any suggestions, ideas?

Thanks!


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## WannaEngine (Nov 7, 2010)

I just disassembled that carb... everything LOOKS pretty clean . 

I have a question about gaskets.... On the fuel intake side of the carb, there is a small plastic block (where fuel lines attach to). There are 2 gaskets between that block and the carb body... 1 is rigid, the other is like mylar film. Should the film be totally flat? It has a few places (like a round circle) that covers a round hole on the carb, and that circle is not totally flat on the mylar. Is this by design?


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## WannaEngine (Nov 7, 2010)

So I did some more experimenting: I went to the local echo dealer and purchased a gasket kit. After replacing the 4 gaskets and spraying the heck out of everything with carb cleaner, I now have the following::

1) Engine will start after priming, but it will not idle. Especially if I try to move choke from "cold start" to "run"... even slowly... it will die after a second or two. 

BUT..... if it does start and I jam the throttle, it seems to run fine wide open. I was running it wide open for a minute or two, and all sounded great. But then it stalls immediately at idle.

After running wide open and then backing off to idle (i.e. stall), the muffler was smoking. I can only assume this is from oil buildup from my earlier issues. Also, I did remove the flame arrestor... that is that screen in the muffler, right?

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks!


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## luckyvision (May 24, 2007)

try & wiggle the cyl/carb as a unit. if they move on the block the mounting bolts are loose. these engines have a habit of doing that...


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## WannaEngine (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks. I threw in the towel and ordered a new carb. Should be here in a few days. It currently runs fine at wide open, but the minute I let off the gas it dies. From what I can tell, there is no idle mix adjustment. Also, while sitting on the ground over night, gas drained out of the air filter, leaving me a large puddle. I can only assume that one of the interior check valves in the carb has gone bad.

Not sure if this matters, but after about 3 minutes if wide open (I did manage to trim 1 hedge ), the muffler is really smoking pretty bad.... even for a few minutes after unit is shut down.


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