Hard starting and flooding...is it me?

longthumbs

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Mar 15, 2013
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A while back I posted about problems I was having getting my "new" (refurbished) 4 cycle trimmer to start...got GREAT advice, and eventually I got it to start.

Every time I try to use it, however, it is still a beast to start. Today I had to crank and crank and crank it for nearly ten minutes before it finally fired. This is typical, and it is frustrating.

  • I prime it as required
  • I hold the throttle down
  • I use the electric starter, not the pull start

The instructions say to start it on position 1 until it fires (and dies), then to move the choke to position 2, and it should start. For me, it will try to start (fire) on position 1, but when I move to position 2, it just cranks and cranks.

It runs fine once it starts. I haven't tried to restart it after it's warm; I am always afraid to kill the engine with the job half done.

Sometimes I smell gas, which makes me think I could be flooding it somehow.

Ideas?

FYI, here's the thread I had before
http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/small-engine-mower-repair/14287-my-new-sort-trimmer-wont-start.html
 
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