# Weedeater Featherlight



## ziesenis (Aug 13, 2014)

Hey guys, new member here. I'm about to wit's ends with this weed eater which seems to be acting more like a temperamental child than a useful lawn tool. I've had the carburetor apart 4 times now, and each time it amazes me further. 

It all starts when, well, it won't start. I bought it used from a pawn shop years ago, cleaned the carb out, new fuel lines, fuel filter, and primer ball. It ran great for the first year. One pull on full choke, then two on half and it was good to go. Last year it wasn't quite running right. It never seemed to reach full throttle. 

This year I dumped the gas and put in new mixed gas. After 15 minutes trying to start it I had gotten nowhere. I disassembled and cleaned the carb again including all of the orfices with carb cleaner and compressed air, as well as the needle and the screen, and it ran great that day. Repeat and repeat again. Same results. It runs fine that day, but won't start the next.

Now here's where things get weird. If I do the usual 1-2 pulls, then disconnect the fuel line (with the primer ball full), pull 4-5 times it starts right up! It'll run for a few seconds, obviously until the bowl runs out of fuel. So I got the idea that if I could get it started with the fuel line disconnected and then connect it while it was running, it might stay running, right? Wrong. As soon as it gets the fuel up into the carb, it bogs down and dies. I checked the compression and got between 75-90 psi after two pulls. It seems to me it's way too rich, or I've got a vacuum leak. I have not replaced any gaskets yet. I'm going to try some gasket sealer between the carb and the intake manifold in the morning and see if that helps any. I'm also unsure about the mixture screw on this particular carb. It has what looks like a small wire nut that only turns less than a quarter of a turn. Right now it's set in the middle, and the engine ran great with it there. Does anybody have any other ideas? 

I can't seem to find a model number anywhere but the engine tag on the bottom reads as follows:

2001 US EPA PH1
Family: 1PWES.0183LT:EM
Disp: 18CC
Serial: 01115N700794-4


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## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

ziesenis said:


> Hey guys, new member here. I'm about to wit's ends with this weed eater which seems to be acting more like a temperamental child than a useful lawn tool. I've had the carburetor apart 4 times now, and each time it amazes me further.
> 
> It all starts when, well, it won't start. I bought it used from a pawn shop years ago, cleaned the carb out, new fuel lines, fuel filter, and primer ball. It ran great for the first year. One pull on full choke, then two on half and it was good to go. Last year it wasn't quite running right. It never seemed to reach full throttle.
> 
> ...


If you can get it running spray/dribble some carb/brake parts cleaner behind the carb and along the mating surgaces if the engine tempo changes you have found your leak, be very careful with the sealer so as not to block the pulse port. Check that the exhaust port and the spark arrestor aren't clogged. Have a good one. Geo


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## ziesenis (Aug 13, 2014)

Geo,

I made sure after reading another article you helped in to clean the muffler and spark arrestor the last time I had it apart. I took all of the intake components off, cleaned them (including blowing through the pulse port into the cylinder and through the intake manifold, applied a thin layer of gasket sealer and reassembled everything. Started like a charm! We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if that really fixed it. Thanks for your help!


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## ziesenis (Aug 13, 2014)

It's running like a charm! Looks like all the problem was was the gasket. Thanks again for your help!


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