[Paging Red]Small Engine Help (Leaf Blower)

[StaticCling]

I have had my Echo PB-251 Leaf Blower for about 8 or 9 years and it has always served me well. Until today...

Set it to cold start and turned the switch on and pulled the starter rope and immediately noticed it was extremely difficult to pull. So I put it on the ground and had to use considerable force to pull the rope all the way out. Did it a few times and it started leaking fuel. Also, it sounds like hell with a major rattle as it's attempting to turn over.


I'm thinking it's toast?

[Datawiz]

Originally Posted by chinaski

I have had my Echo PB-251 Leaf Blower for about 8 or 9 years and it has always served me well. Until today...

Set it to cold start and turned the switch on and pulled the starter rope and immediately noticed it was extremely difficult to pull. So I put it on the ground and had to use considerable force to pull the rope all the way out. Did it a few times and it started leaking fuel. Also, it sounds like hell with a major rattle as it's attempting to turn over.


I'm thinking it's toast?

It's an Echo (echo...echo.. I amuse myself), but consider yourself lucky that it's lasted that long. It's pretty much a commodity brand, and IMO, not worth repairing. Go buy another one for $120 and get another decade out of it.

[erickpl]

I have a pressure washer that isn't wanting to start (Honda engine).

Need to try to clean the carb a bit, but am wondering if it is not getting spark. Replacing the switch/wiring would prove to be a hard part to find.

[StaticCling]

Originally Posted by datawiz

It's an Echo (echo...echo.. I amuse myself), but consider yourself lucky that it's lasted that long. It's pretty much a commodity brand, and IMO, not worth repairing. Go buy another one for $120 and get another decade out of it.

That's what I am thinking...

Damn good tool though, I used the piss out of it.

[Black94lt1]

The leaking fuel may be bad fuel lines caused by the ethanol. Easy cheap fix if you want to take an hour or so and $5 in parts. As for the hard pull, I'm not sure

[Datawiz]

Originally Posted by chinaski

That's what I am thinking...

Damn good tool though, I used the piss out of it.

With your experience, and mine with Echo products, I'd encourage you to get another. No reason to stray.

My backpack blower is Echo and I've had it for about 8 years. The only thing broken is the priming bulb, but I can still get it primed and it starts.

My weed whacker/edger is Sthil....supposed to be the best in the business...the edger piece went tits up after 3 uses. Was fixed under warranty, but I spent nearly $500 on the main unit plus one extra piece.

Echo is a great buy. Just replace when the time is right.

[Kerrmudgeon]

If it was really hard to pull you should have pulled the plug and made sure the cylinder wasn't full of gas or oil from being stored wrong. If it was and you pulled it anyway you may have bent the rod from the lock up.....especially if it's making rattling noises when it started.....

[lspencer534]

Originally Posted by datawiz

With your experience, and mine with Echo products, I'd encourage you to get another. No reason to stray.

My backpack blower is Echo and I've had it for about 8 years. The only thing broken is the priming bulb, but I can still get it primed and it starts.

My weed whacker/edger is Sthil....supposed to be the best in the business...the edger piece went tits up after 3 uses. Was fixed under warranty, but I spent nearly $500 on the main unit plus one extra piece.

Echo is a great buy. Just replace when the time is right.

I'll say it again: Still is crap. My weed whacker is a Stihl. I always drained the gas for Winter storage, but it always needed a carburetor rebuild in the Spring. Plus, by the time I could get it craked for routine use, I was too tired to use it. Dealer said my problems "weren't uncommon".

[StaticCling]

Originally Posted by lspencer534

I'll say it again: Still is crap. My weed whacker is a Stihl. I always drained the gas for Winter storage, but it always needed a carburetor rebuild in the Spring. Plus, by the time I could get it craked for routine use, I was too tired to use it. Dealer said my problems "weren't uncommon".

I have a few Stihl products. Chainsaw and a Gas Hedge Trimmer. Both have been flawless for me? I always drain the gas and start them up to run the remaining gas out of the carb. I'll buy another echo leaf blower though, good stuff.

[StaticCling]

Originally Posted by Kerrmudgeon

If it was really hard to pull you should have pulled the plug and made sure the cylinder wasn't full of gas or oil from being stored wrong. If it was and you pulled it anyway you may have bent the rod from the lock up.....especially if it's making rattling noises when it started.....

Yeah, I think I fubar'd this thing.

[SergioKurba]

Originally Posted by chinaski

I have had my Echo PB-251 Leaf Blower for about 8 or 9 years and it has always served me well. Until today...

Set it to cold start and turned the switch on and pulled the starter rope and immediately noticed it was extremely difficult to pull. So I put it on the ground and had to use considerable force to pull the rope all the way out. Did it a few times and it started leaking fuel. Also, it sounds like hell with a major rattle as it's attempting to turn over.


I'm thinking it's toast?

I also think that your leaf blower does not need repair. Its price tag is now - a maximum of $ 200, which is not too much. If you choose a new one, then I would take the Hitachi. I Hitachi RB24EAP 2 years and works great. It may not be such a cool brand like Echo, but the quality and capacity is certainly not inferior. By the way, your Leafy Blower I found here

[Craig]

Originally Posted by chinaski

I have had my Echo PB-251 Leaf Blower for about 8 or 9 years and it has always served me well. Until today...

Set it to cold start and turned the switch on and pulled the starter rope and immediately noticed it was extremely difficult to pull. So I put it on the ground and had to use considerable force to pull the rope all the way out. Did it a few times and it started leaking fuel. Also, it sounds like hell with a major rattle as it's attempting to turn over.


I'm thinking it's toast?

I had the same thing happen with a pressure washer. When I did the autopsy, near as I could figure, gas had filled the cylinder, making it hard to pull. When I forced it, the incompressible fluid in the cylinder bent a valve. Toast.

[Mike Mercury]

[mrvette]

1/4 acre burb here, HATE those small engines, bad enuff I have to listen to my electric tools, and gas mower..... trade off all the gas/oil/storage/ethanol crap for a 50000000' electric cord, need get one on a reel....I wind it up about ten feet at a time via a bolt on the wall......

as for the mower, mine is a early Briggs fan belt drive self propelled rotary, 22" and I put wheel barrow wheels in the rear, for ease of handling, and rigged the RPM to about twice normal speeds, so I run after it......get it the hell over with and too boot more HP at the blade, so no bog in thick grass....

I put a fuel cut off valve and my own kill switch on it...the fuel in the tank does not flood out the carb in storage that way.....disabled all the crap .gov shit....

opened up the side of the mower for a discharge, no bags.....

to fix the carb, if necessary, drop the bowl, leave the float crap in place, shot of brake cleaner through the fuel line, blow it out with air jet, and reassemble, ready for another 3 years or better.....

I removed the recoil starter and have 15' of cord on my 1/2 inch electric drill, and a welded on socket on a cut off 3/8 drive extension, in the drill, I start the engine via the magneto bolt on top.....the one on the crank.....

rigged all this up over the last ~16 years, so to make mowing easy....and reliable.....

GOD, I"M LAZY!!!!

[NCC-1701]

Originally Posted by lspencer534

I'll say it again: Still is crap. My weed whacker is a Stihl. I always drained the gas for Winter storage, but it always needed a carburetor rebuild in the Spring. Plus, by the time I could get it craked for routine use, I was too tired to use it. Dealer said my problems "weren't uncommon".

I agree with you I have never had a Stihl product that I did not have problems with same with Husqvarna (sp) Echo are the best I have had no problems with any of mine other than the purge bulbs and fuel lines.

[StaticCling]

I bought a new Echo blower about a week or so ago.

[8Up]

Originally Posted by chinaski

I bought a new Echo blower about a week or so ago.

I have gotten an Echo chainsaw and weedwacker on Reds advice, both awesome products. Sounds like the blower may be past repair but replacement parts can be bought. Compare the price of replacing it with a new one and you may go fro the repair.