A Free Weed Eater

  

This Weed Eater Featherlite XT200 2 stroke stringline trimmer was my first real actual foray into the world of 2-stroke engines, and really gave me a fun challenge. From losing a spring that was vital, to having to just replace a carburetor because you also lost an irreplaceable screw. Awesome!


That's just a couple of the real challenges that happened with this trimmer, as I tried to get it up and running.

So continue reading, then watch the video, or watch the video, and continue reading after..

The first thing that needs to get done is, that carburetor needs to be removed for servicing. This way I can also open the engine and have a peek at the exhaust and see if it is damaged, from the engine being run too hot, with too lean a mix of fuel, and air.
If the piston, or the cylinder is scored, then I'll know that there's no point in continuing on with the engine repair.
But first thing's first, let us get that air filter, and carburetor off, so we can at least service that.
I mean, this is my first 2-stroke small engine after all, and was a big thing for me. I wanted to take my time, and be as thorough as possible.

After pulling the carburetor off, and removing the fuel lines, I appreciate that it'll be time to pull the carb apart and see what's what.
So that's what I started doing.

Pulling the pumping diaphragm off first to make sure the check valves are good, and that the gasket wasn't leaking.  They looked good.
The metering diaphragm, tho. That one was not so good. Stiff, but not unsalvageable.  I thought I'd try cleaning the carburetor, and rebuilding it with new gaskets.

So into the ultrasonic it went after pulling it apart.
My Ultrasonic isn't anything special, just a small, 2.8L tank that is unheated. I would like to get a more powerful one in the future, but for not, I think it's usable, and has been doing a decent job thus far.

Of course, a couple of poking wires, some patience, and carb clean, and you can fix a fair number of carburetors without an ultrasonic cleaner.  I started out without one, and got quite a few machines running. The biggest advantage is that the Ultrasonic doing the cleaning means that I'm not, and can be doing something else while the Ultrasonic is cooking.

This was the most harrowing part of the carburetor rebuild. After getting everything out of the cleaner, and beginning the rebuild, the craziest thing happened.... The needle return spring said goodbye, and sprang away into the Ether. I was never able to find it and had to have a good laugh about it afterwards.

So I opted for a replacement carburetor, and decided that I'll try again in the future with a carburetor rebuild.

After that fiasco, I decided it was high time to attack the dreaded exhaust removal, and try seeing what the cylinder looks like. 

After fighting with it for a good 5 five minutes trying to get the exhaust springs off, and not hurting myself in the process, I get the exhaust off, and take a look at this pristine cylinder!

I was quite happy with how that cylinder and piston looked, so back together it went. It was a fight, but I got it together without injury, so I'll call that a win!
After that, and before reattaching it all together, I decided to tackle the rope.

That was a lot of fun! I learned a lot about 2-stroke engines, I learned how to pull them apart, and that they're really not all that intimidating.
Funny how I felt mildly intimidated by these things, but now after doing it for the first time, the taboo is broken, and they're pretty simple.

Hopefully this means that in the future going forward, I get a lot more that are fairly simple on the repair side.

I know, after this, I come into a small bunch of them, and one really kicks my butt to the point that I know it'll never ever run again.  The Titan 2300, by McCulloch.
But again, that one was quite an experience, however it came after this Weed Eater.

After the rope, and reassembly, well, there's only one thing left.  The initial outdoor test, and first run!
So, outside I went.  Bringing a carb tool with me, just in case, I added the fuel, primed the system, and... Gave it a couple pulls. Sure enough, it fired right up!
Sounded fantastic, and so...

It made some short work of the grass surrounding the old tree stump out front that I just can't get with the lawnmower.

Anyway guys...

Chat soon!