Is My Brush Cutter

Stigura

Irrevocably FUBAR?

Asking in here because, even if we had a Mechanics forum; I imagine people would talk way over my head.

I left some petrol in it. God knows when. Recently opened the tank and like this syrup sluggishly oozed out.

Put some white spirit in the tank and left it for a while. Other day, I thought I'd give it some pulls, to move the spirit. Nothing happened.

It was like pulling on a simple length of rope. Granted, the cord didn't like come away in my hand. But, there was no tension either. No sound. Nothing.

Opinions?

Thanks.

listermint

remove the tank and clear it properly


Id also suggest cleaning out the carb too.

my3cents

:eek: Really can't see why you'd put white spirit in a 2 Stroke engine and expect anything good to come of it

Without any oil you may have damaged the cylinder and the rings.

If anyone really must use something to clean out a 2 Stroke engine then buy a liter of 2 Stroke Aspen fuel (most mower/machinery shops have it).

But there is also a good chance that no fuel (or white spirit) has got through to the cylinder.

To test the machine first remove the spark plug and see if you get a spark when you pull the engine over you need to hold the spark plug to a metal part of the engine while you do that.

If you have a spark then try putting a couple of drops of fuel (drops not a bucket full) in the cylinder replace the plug and see if it fires up.

If it fires (repeat a couple of times if it doesn't first time) then the problem is the carburetor which we can cover later.

Edit> But remove that white spirit ASAP.

Stigura

Okay. Thanks, lads. I make wooden boxes .....

The spirit idea came from my boss. He had a similar situation and figured the solvent would eat the gunk. Worked for him, and sounded sound, in theory, to me.

I know a couple of lads who are far more at home with things mechanical than I am. I'll pass ye advice to them and see if I can beg one of them into doing what ye suggesting.

I honestly wouldn't know where to start. I don't even know what carbs, cylinders and rings are I hate things like this.

Lumen

I only know how to break things, but the lack of resistance in the pull cord sounds like the starter drive pawl thing has broken, i.e. the pull cord isn't turning the motor.

Stigura

That's weird! I mean; Everything was fine, the last time I used it - I'd have noticed. And, it's been laying in a shed since forever. My point being that no one's been even anywhere near it.

Even I can see that what ye saying makes some kind of sense. I just can't fathom how it might have happened

Purgative

Lumen wrote: »

I only know how to break things, but the lack of resistance in the pull cord sounds like the starter drive pawl thing has broken, i.e. the pull cord isn't turning the motor.

Or there's no compression in the cylinder

Stigura

Spoke to one of my more switched on mates, today.

He said having a slack cord wasn't too bad. Reckons it's when ye can't shift it that things look worst.

Forgive me; I'm so deaf, I barely manage to catch a third of what most people say to me But, he also said something about a bloke in town. I'm pretty sure he was saying something like this guy can take one look at it and say whether it's viably salvageable, or a write off.

I pointed out that a new one would set me back about the ton, ton fifty mark. His response seemed to smack of the like; " Pffftt!!! Sod That! Have a word with ye man yet. "

Then we arrived at our destination and the subject changed.

_Brian

Just drop it off somewhere reliable for a service.

If it was working fine up to leaving it idle then there can’t be too much wrong.

2 stroke tends to gunk up carbs over time and needs strolling down and cleaning.

Stigura

Excellent! Thanks, Brian! That sounds ~ Very Much ~ like what ever my mate was trying to convey to me today so.

ednwireland

theres pawls on the starter cord reel they are probably seized used to happen on my old brush cutter. the big husqvarna one I have doesn't seem to have the same issue.

my3cents

ednwireland wrote: »

theres pawls on the starter cord reel they are probably seized used to happen on my old brush cutter. the big husqvarna one I have doesn't seem to have the same issue.

Very common fault on the old Partner brush cutters which were taken over and rebranded as Husqvarna. The springs rust out and the pawls seize in place must have fixed mine at least half a dozen times over the years. Last time I just replaced the whole flywheel complete with pawls and springs on my R240 (dealer sold me a complete machine with no compression for spares).

Stigura

I don't even know what a " Pawl " is.

I, literally, feel about oily, greasy, mechanical nasty things like most people do about other nasty things.

Conversely; I can watch stuff like Hand Tool Rescue all night. But, I'm always asking myself; How does he know when to Oil it, or Grease it? And how does he know how much grease?!

Nope. I've always been better around animals.

Purgative

Stig this guy is quite handy https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqca7L2YYDN-BIHUQ2TfAA


plus I like that he tells you how long a job will take in terms of cans of beer.

Stigura

:eek: Wow! I just watched his chain saw sharpening one? Now, I want to buy me a file!!!

Isn't he good?!