Getting a rebuilt trimmer running again

Links to products I have in my tool bag.
Compression tester. amzn.to/2NMgeze
Spark Checker. amzn.to/3bnXjmA
Tygon Fuel Line. amzn.to/3aCGntm
Carb Adjustment tools. amzn.to/3k7cgxe
Primer Bulb. amzn.to/3k8w3fL
Fuel Filter. amzn.to/2ZC0T7i
Above are affiliate links which means we receive a percentage of the revenue made from purchasing products via those links.
Thanks for watching. This trimmer was somewhat rebuilt in the last video. Now its time to get this trimmer running again by going through the carburetor and the fuel system. Next will be to see how long it's going to last.

[@brianandrews7099]

I purchased a curved shaft Weed eater string trimmer from a Walmart at the start of mowing season in 2000; just after we purchased our first home. I used that trimmer every week during the mowing season for the next 17 years. It was given service and maintenance whenever it demanded it (when it wouldn’t run or run right anymore) and I “retired” it to the corner of my garage around 2018 because the drive cable needed to be removed, cleaned, and greased. Rather than do the repairs, I decided to “step up” to a new Tanaka. This week, I decided to get the old Weed eater out, get it running, serviced, and ready to work again. After servicing the drive cable, I found that the carb was bad from sitting too long (it was stored with a dry fuel system but the humidity corroded it) but it started right up with fresh fuel and a replacement carb. Its has its battle scares, but being nearly 22 years old I would say these old Weed eaters are pretty tough and $55.00 well spent a long time ago!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

that's one durable weed eater!

[@lewiemcneely9143]

YAAY!

[@JSB2500]

I have a similar story. I bought my McCulloch one in 1996 and moved on today after 27 years (~250 hours use). It would not start anymore, even with Aspen 2 fuel. The compression was low with a dry piston ring and was fine with some oil. I dismantled the engine and checked and measured everything and couldn't find anything wrong: no ridge / scrape / ovality etc. Everything seemed quite perfect. Turns out it was too perfect. Thanks to this guy in the video, I learned that what was wrong was (a) the piston ring had lost its contact edge, and (b) the cylinder walls were too polished. I decided to move on because at the time I couldn't find what was wrong with it. Also, it needed some other new parts e.g. new HT cable and plug cap. The new one is great. I'm sad to see it go, but I think the manufacturer probably didn't intend or want it to live anything like so long!

[@rannz8]

My dad started our lawn care with this same model weed eater and a push Mower. I have since taken over and now own several commercial mowers and trimmers. This weed eater was what I learned to trim with but also the crappiest thing I ever used but it helped get us where we are today

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Thats quite the story Thanks I appreciate you sharing it. Whatever happened to it?

[@FJBsaidcornpop]

Mine is 15 yrs old and still starts on beginning of the 3rd pull everytime. Perfect gas/oil mix, clean air filter, no garbage in the gas tank and have never tried to use on tall thick overgrown grass and weeds like clearing big over grown lots of fields especially for long periods of time, this weedeater wasn't made for that.

[@Secondarysavage05]

My dad And my brother started mowing 7 years ago now the mower that was used was extremely tired it smoked a lot about 2 quarts of oil a year as I got older I learned alot about engines and how equipment worked so after 7 years of smoking I just happened to have a new cylinder of a mower that threw a rod so I got a new set of rings and rebuild the mower I finally got that mower running like new again and I couldn't be happier with the result it ran smooth it didn't smoke it had all of its power and it's back in service

[@HomeGaragechannel]

nice work!

[@apatterson8128]

I repaired a Featherlite for a friend. It was about 14.00. I told her I was "Fixing it forward." Great video. Thank you.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Thank you A Patterson and nice work.

[@jimamerica7419]

Please keep doing these videos with carb issues. Great refreshers and learning more from your site.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Thank you Jim America

[@alexandercosta1777]

Ore great advice from a tool expert, he is the Chris fix it. For yard tools. Chris fix it woks on cars ad trucks and the man for home garage works on yard tools, the best of both worlds on KZbin lol, Am I right or am I right

[@ChevyGuy70]

I’d have to agree with you on that👍

[@troywayne8759]

Yes... both outstanding youtubers! Mustie1 and Steve's Small engine saloon also two of my other favorites! Incredible value for free!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

thanks guys

[@alexandercosta1777]

@@HomeGaragechannel no problem, you make great content

[@brucecoleman7412]

Fixing it is way more fun!

[@dermotgilmartin1818]

I always perfer to fix it before id ever buy new , but thats fun for me , ☘👍

[@HomeGaragechannel]

the same for me. Thank you Dermot Gilmartin

[@themowerman]

Morning mate.. a good video.. and good step by step on carb tuning.. hope all is good bud..

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Yes Mick just very very cold here.

[@KL4life]

Great videos!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Glad you like them!

[@adenrampersad9085]

Great video dude

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Thank you Aden Rampersad

[@tyroneclarke1666]

Hi mate. Nice repair job done young fella. I would definitely spend some time and a few bucks to get it going. Then flog it. Cheers 🦘🇦🇺

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Excellent phrasing. Thank you Tyrone Clarke

[@benshull5944]

Can you do a video on mixing gas for a two stroke. Like the whole process and into detail. That would be real awesome man that’s something I need a hand with. Keep up the great videos!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Yes that video will be coming up soon. Thanks for the comment I appreciate it

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@HomeGaragechannel I even wash out the oil bottle to be sure and get every last drop.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

@@HomeGaragechannel is 40:1 in volume, or mass?

[@558vulcanxh]

I have repaired my Husqvarna, less the piston ring in much the same way but I changed the crankshaft seals while I had it down 😊

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Good tip!

[@axelmears9047]

film the next video lol, i wanna see how its held up love the content! helped me to work on my own strimmers and made me realise its not that difficult to take a carb apart

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Will do!

[@lewiemcneely9143]

They're fine little trimmers. Not much power but running the small line would do a decent job of trimming. We had 2, both from a friend of hers and both non-running. Took kits for carbs and then just ran one and alternated when I needed to work on one. They too went with my Echo and have a nice new home. And the batteries sit and wait the next outing. Thanks and Blessings!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes it's not meant for heavy work for sure, but they are so easy to handle.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@HomeGaragechannel Right-o!

[@bobw.991]

Great video! I’ll keep it in my like vids, for further reference.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

thank you Bob W.

[@hammerheadhaydenoutdoorsan8879]

Awesome video I just fixed the same weed wacker now I just need to adjust the carburetor now

[@HomeGaragechannel]

nice work. I think these are really nice and easy to use,

[@hammerheadhaydenoutdoorsan8879]

I agree

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

These things are so simple that there really isn't much to go wrong in them.

[@blingblingdog6958]

I repaired one of these by replacing the carb. I am going to motorize an old razor electric scooter with it. I got a bigger fuel tank and now I just have to find a mount the motor. I’m doing the same with a Troy bilt 4 stroke.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

nice!

[@benmiller5015]

I have the exact same trimmer. It sat for prolly 8 years. It was never winterized so last spring I tried messing with it. Took the carb all apart n cleaned it n got it to run good at half choke but wouldn't run at no choke. I tried tuning it using a butt connector cuz I didn't have the tool n couldn't get it to fire back up. It was cheaper to get a new carb with new lines n a new filter than a rebuild kit so I got a new carb. Got one cough out of it then it wouldn't start at all. Ended up putting a compression tester on it n it for some reason had absolutely no compression on the tester but could feel the compression with my thumb. Basically at that point I just gave up on it

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes once it gets to a certain point its time ti give up on it

[@benmiller5015]

@@HomeGaragechannel it didn't even have much run time on it during it's life n there's no reason why it shoulda dropped it's compression. I was thinking maybe it's a valve problem but I'll prolly never look further into it. I already have to many projects I'm putting off til it warms up outside

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@benmiller5015 that's quite understandable.

[@watermanone7567]

Very nice fix and cheap, well worth it. Did you check the spark arrestor? That was a really good find, Brand does not matter for that price. Does the job is all that matters.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Yes I did and it was clear and its also not serviceable

[@RussellBooth1977]

I would spend a small amount of time & money into fixing it up !

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Me too Russell Booth

[@ddwoolensackIII]

I was really hoping to see another compression test and the longevity report on this engine... If you used it in another video, I couldn't find it. Nice work though, I'll definitely subscribe.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I haven't filmed it yet, but it's running well still.

[@brianandrews7099]

I bet it runs fine for along time with the honing and new ring. These old Weed eaters do tend to smoke a little more than the higher end models under high throttle, even when they were new. Probably not great for the air, but doesn’t seem hurt the engines. Low on fancy but high on bang for the buck!

[@troywayne8759]

This video alone could teach so many people how to fix 90% of the issues with small two strokes. The clear and up-close video is second-to-none of anyone on youtube! From watching your videos, it seems you mainly use bulk-purchased metering diaphragms. How many different variations would you say there are in your experience? Do you have a link to where you get yours?

[@HomeGaragechannel]

unfortunately I don't have a link to them as I'm not sponsored. I find there to be 3 major version of diaphragms which I carry and then there are 1 other that's second and a few that are very rare.

[@pyrokamileon]

I bought a carburetor rebuild kit for a WT1151 and one diaphragm part that I needed to replace on my carb did fit but the other diaphragm part did not fit. I'm going to send it back to the seller and I guess next time I'll just have to double check in the pictures that every part fits, I just hoped that since it was compatible with the WT1151 that the parts I needed would be there..

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes it's a shame that sometimes the kits don't always fit the carb.

[@vlvtopcat]

Yes

[@jobrell]

Everything can be repaired the one and only thing is if it's cost effective depending on personal use and or customer needs.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

you make a good point

[@alanlake5220]

Yes inwould do as you did, try and repair it without spending too much money .

[@HomeGaragechannel]

best tactic in my mind too

[@ChevyGuy70]

Is there a website that you use to figure out what the stock rpm is for your engine repairs. I mostly tune by ear and have great success but I do have people who want it back to stock. I have a gauge to see the rpm but I can never find out the stock rpm for motors when looking them up. Love your videos 😎👍

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Unfortunately no I don't have a website to look at.

[@darrellkirksey17]

Hello I enjoy your content thank you.. I have a Husqvarna 128 ld it has been giving me a really hard time. Will not run at wot new factory carb new factory coil adjusting the high and low does nothing to fix the problem my problem is I can't afford to put it in the shop and grass is growing full swing now. But truly I am spinning in circles. I use Stihl synthetic 50:1 with non ethanol gas in all my 2 cycle engines. After watching several of your videos I have on order a compression gauge. But I feel that's not it. But literally no clue why any help you may be able to give would be greatly appreciated.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

thank I appreciate the praise. How you looked at the spark arrestor screen in the muffler?

[@aeson33]

I wish when I adjust H and L screws it was as easy as you make it look.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I know right, it's an issue of experience, the more you do it, the easier it will be. You'll get there

[@NerfCraft]

Yeah, after working with these for a while you should get a better idea of what they sound like. Personally I'd probably go about 1/8 to 1/4 turn richer on my L screw from what it was in the vid. Seems a very tad bit of bog there. Of course, this is a very inexpensive weed eater and was already worn out. Probably never going to perform that great anyway, but it'd still be worth it just to see if it runs better. If it doesn't you can always go back to the previous setting. Also, tuning the carb without the air filter isn't something I would recommend. The air filter will resist the air flow some and can affect the air/fuel ratio a little bit. Better to tune it with the air filter installed, especially since you'll be running it with an air filter anyway.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@NerfCraft yes you are. The carbs are usually tuned again after another cold start.

[@michaelskidmore5086]

If the filter is dirty on a weed eater, is it possible that you can dip it in rubbing alcohol and try cleaning it that way or just replace it entirely?

[@smallengines1018]

I'd just replace it

[@EthanAdey]

Replace it, they’re only cheep

[@HomeGaragechannel]

That's a possibility.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@smallengines1018 its just easier to replace it

[@smallengines1018]

@@HomeGaragechannel yeah and I'd rather not have to worry about it not being 100% clean

[@coltonbaird7037]

Have you ever thought about making a motorized friction bike with one of these? I think It would be cool if you built a cheap motorized bicycle

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I have actually. It might be a great way to use one of these engines

[@gavinneubauer5536]

I definetly would fix it in fact I have and the carburetor was the problem man that trimmer has kicked my ass

[@HomeGaragechannel]

are you thinking about just replacing the carb then?

[@gavinneubauer5536]

@@HomeGaragechannel already did that was the problem

[@davidsaltz5708]

I have a problem finding parts for featherlite 21cc weed eater?

[@davidsaltz5708]

Where can I find parts for featherlite 21cc weed eater?

[@conner5611]

Make sure you run a little Richer oil mixture because of the new ring and how worn out the cylinder is I'd run 32:1 I do in my echo because of high hour's

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes I definitely will do that. Thanks for the tip

[@conner5611]

@@HomeGaragechannel no problem I love you videos 😉

[@Patrick4959]

i would tackle this repair no worries cheers from Australia to your area and i would suggest you create a facebook page too

[@HomeGaragechannel]

thank you Patrick Stapleton and I have one set up just waiting for the season to come in.

[@Patrick4959]

@@HomeGaragechannel cheers mate from Australia

[@butler386]

I would try fixing it up just for the experience. Let me make a suggestion to you. Instead of testing each trimmer individually maybe you can save several up and then come here and do the testing on my lawn. Just an idea for you. Great video.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

lol,, I didn't know where you were going with your comment now it makes complete sense..

[@gagegarton6844]

Is there any tips you would give about how often you need to change fuel filter? Is there any signs it needs changed?

[@HomeGaragechannel]

There isn't any set maintenance on fuel filter replacement. To answer your question, I would only replace it when you have a problem with ethanol gas gumming up your carb. Otherwise don't touch it.

[@phongnguyenthanh7215]

Hey teacher, how does the saw machine and lawn mower get soot and loose bearings on the machine and how to check (video teacher)

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Actually don't think I've ran into that situation

[@brianking1138]

I occasionally repair cheaper equipment if it was obtained for free. Your time is money though and the hour of labor at shop rate is about double the value of this trimmer . Are the metering diaphragms universal?

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes buy you have to find the correct style that fits your carb. I find they're 3 major styles.

[@smallengines1018]

I was blowing of my neighbors driveway for him cause there was a dusting of fluffy snow he was an elder so I did it for him and when I crossed the street to do his driveway I hit an icy spot and fell and my cruise control lever snapped right of and my throttle is lose

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Can you get a new lever?

[@smallengines1018]

@@HomeGaragechannel yes I'm gonna get it fixed

[@999thenewman]

A dusting of fluffy snow you say. I use the push broom for that.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@999thenewman is it easier to use than a blower for snow?

[@999thenewman]

@@HomeGaragechannel If it's just a dusting. For anything over two inches, I use the machine.

[@schlosserprofi8647]

For the most Part, i buy used good Brand Tools. Because cheap stuff always broke on me when I needed them the most. And the preformance is like night and day. I got a few lawnmowers for free and had a lot of trouble with them. Now I bourght an etesia lawnmower for 200 Bucks 10 Jears old and fixed some miner issues. This thin is rippin trough high, thick and wet gras like nothing and works a treat. Thats why I'm over the cheap stuff. And the views on your channel revieling that most people think the same way. The views on your Stihl trimmer are an an alltime high and the cheap stuff is not realy watched well. Or did the algorythem skrewd you over?

[@HomeGaragechannel]

thanks for shedding light on my numbers as I don't usually look at them that way. I do know that my echo video has a lot more views though.

[@robbsmind2209]

I always get confused when adjusting the L and H on these 2 cycles... I have a poulan chainsaw but have messed up the settings. Any advice on how to start over with a baseline setting for the # of turns for both L and H?

[@HomeGaragechannel]

sure try conservative first at 1.5 turns from bottom on both screws

[@sonnyc3826]

i giv eup on these things i had 2 running last year this year i have 2 and i did everything and my primer bulb doesnt suck fuel into the carberator

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I understand your frustration Sonny C. Have you considered buying a newer one?

[@sonnyc3826]

@@HomeGaragechannel no i repair them as a hobby. i bought 4 off soem guy for 40-50 bucks and figured theyd be easy to fix as i fixed 2 last year and they ran ...im running into teh primer bulb not priming on 2 of them ..i just bought a new carberator for the one hopfully that soivles the issue its cheap but for what youd sell a weed eater for hardly seem worth fixing unless they just need a cleaning..i have better luck with lawnmowers i guess i had 7 over the winter and so far i have 5 working..so not bad need ot tacjke one other one and the other i just used for parts...i like fixing the mowers better weed eaters im still new to.. ill probably get the hang of them eventually.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

if you buy used, then be prepared to find some absolute garbage, that simply can't be fixed without breaking the budget.

[@sonnyc3826]

@@HomeGaragechannel yeha i suppose..i only buy it if its dirt cheap nowadays wher ei am peopel expect to get 50 bucks for a broken down lawnmower but also want to buy one form me for 50-60 bucks like wtf....i try not to spend more than what i would get for it..like the weed eater probabyl wouldnt spend more than 20 bucks on it..then sell them for 40-50 ..but i might jsut stick to fixing the ones i find for free on my ventures. that way i dont take losses on anything really..but so far ive been able to fix almost eveyrhting..i bought new carbs for these 2 and a primer bulb for the otehr one and hopefully that does the trick then 3 out of the 4 i bought are fixed...i just prefer the lawnmowers.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I completely understand how you feel, But stay by your pricing, and don't loose any money.

[@NerfCraft]

I don't care much about the brand myself, as long as it works. There are some brands that make better tools than others, Weed Eater definitely being one of the cheaper made ones, but some people don't need an expensive Echo or Stihl tool. As for repairing the problems this weed eater had, I might just for fun, but it's definitely not worth it. The $5 tune up showed in this video would be worth doing, but I'm not rebuilding the top end of it. You can get a similar weed eater brand new for like $90 at Walmart. used, it's like a $50 tool when it works. As the owner of the same model weed eater, it does not always work that reliably, the time it takes to do this much work would not pay off at a $15 profit for almost 5 hours of work. I can make a lot more money working at McDonalds at that point. Again, if it was only the $5 tune up, and took an hour or so, you'd be getting like $20 an hour which is much better.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

You make a good point. Thank you NerfCraft

[@ramadinsookhoo6141]

What do you want more for spending let's say $6 to get this trimmer back and working? My personal preference on these types of equipment is the Stihl brand tools. For me here in the Caribbean depending on the size of the tool it can range in like $4000 to $8000 plus for a weed wacker. I've been using stihl tools for more than 17 years now and it's the only brand tools I trust and use since I've seen other brand name tools stalled and that they couldn't be repaired due to a lack of parts available to us here

[@HomeGaragechannel]

does that mean you don't have newer Stihl then? are they old several years old?

[@ramadinsookhoo6141]

@@HomeGaragechannel it have newer models available on the market but my tools are old models for example my chainsaw is 31 years old in November and my brushcutter is about 16 years old and my leaf blower is about 5 years old and I'm planning on getting a pole saw soon

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@ramadinsookhoo6141 nice!

[@bradleygower7181]

Have you had any issues since honing the cylinder I wanted to wait till the end of lawn mowing season to ask this.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

yes and no, it sounds like the engines skips once in a while, and it's has some other issues, I'll do an update video on it soon.

[@bradleygower7181]

I was hoping it would last a while because I have some little 2 strokes to rebuild and I was thinking about honing them. Maybe a ball hone would work better

[@HomeGaragechannel]

If there are no scratches, honing will work. But I did was out of desperation. I think I might have enlarged the bore too much, and the piston skirt is slapping the cylinder.

[@bradleygower7181]

Yeah whenever they port and polish chainsaws they hone them so yeah maybe you took off just a bit too much because they are way smaller than a Briggs and honing them is a lot different but who’s to say.

[@robertmailhos8159]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Thank you Robert Mailhos

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@HomeGaragechannel you are welcome anytime young man and your family

[@IvanOchoa461]

How much is the trimmer worth

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Not much. $40 at most

[@SpectreOZ]

*So what was the compression after bedding in the new piston ring?*

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I'll have to do a video on it, but on my preliminary, it didn't change much.

[@SpectreOZ]

@@HomeGaragechannel Thanks for the feedback 👍

[@IvanOchoa461]

How are you supposed to know which tool do you need for your carburetor for which type of tool you need for a carburetor

[@HomeGaragechannel]

Just by looking at it. Take a picture to get a better look and them compare it to the one online.

[@IPlayGames3]

If you value your time at $15 per hour, this repair cost just $28.10. worth it

[@NatesOutdoors]

So when you find the highest it will run,do you turn a ¼ turn off that??

[@HomeGaragechannel]

I wouldn't say a quarter. Just enough that it's not running at max rpm anymore.

[@NatesOutdoors]

@@HomeGaragechannel oh ok,when it starts to drop back off again

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@NatesOutdoors yes sir

[@NatesOutdoors]

@@HomeGaragechannel awesome,thanks man much appreciated,your the only channel that answered my question,thanks so much and you have my sub

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@NatesOutdoors Fantastic thank you

[@mychannel9160]

I have two non working trimmers I can't revive. I've tried everything. Help!

[@HomeGaragechannel]

first confirm that they run by putting some fuel into the carbs throat and pulling the rope. if it runs, I would replace the entire fuel system, which is the carb, lines and Fuel filter.

[@mychannel9160]

@@HomeGaragechannel Thank you for your quick response. My Ryobi trimmer refused to start even after replacing many components on it, so I took a Craftsman trimmer from my uncle, which was sitting in his garage for couple years. While I was cleaning it, I took the spark plug, cleaned it, and checked for spark with a spark tester. It worked. I took air filter cover off and dropped a little bit of gasoline into the carburetor, pulled the rope. I did it couple times and on 3-4 occasions the engine run for a second or two. So I was optimistic. Fuel lines were cracking as well as the bulb, so I've replaced them. I pressed the bulb and could see fuel flowing through the carburetor and back into the tank. I put everything together and it still doesn't run, even when I put some fuel into the carb... I don't know what to do next. These are cheap trimmers and nobody wants to work on them (I've asked around).

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@mychannel9160 you are correct. not to be a defeatist, but you might just want to skip the headache and buy a new or used trimmer.

[@mychannel9160]

@@HomeGaragechannel I think I'll do that. At one repair place they told me they don't even waste their time to troubleshoot Ryobi, because even though they replace everything they rarely achieve anything.

[@HomeGaragechannel]

@@mychannel9160 I completely understand how they feel.

[@kittsonic1]

Repair it and get a 25 Dollar profit...

[@HomeGaragechannel]

that's a good idea. I wish spring would show up already.

[@ianvaldivia1993]

Those trimmers are super junk if I ever get them in a lot i put gas in them and try to start it if it doesn't run i try and tune the carb if that doesn't work it goes in the scrap trailer there is no resale value at all in those and they are horrible i work on alot of the bigger stuff like stihl,husqvarna,echo,redmax,johnsred and stuff like that

[@HomeGaragechannel]

that makes sense. at least you put an effort into trying to fix them.

[@davidsaltz5708]

Can't even find a new vented gas cap for my 21cc featherlite!