Weed Eater GTi 17T

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,643
If you are going to work on blue smokers you will have to set yourself up with some compression pumps & vacuum gauges.
Otherwise you ar urinating towards the wind, some time all goes fine the ret of the time you will have wet trousers.

Go to Walbro and down load the full service manual.
It has every thing you need to know about diaphram carbs there, some really good videos all dome in plain easy to understand english.
All "cube carbs" work th same & the diagnosis & repair proceedures ar the same regardless of who mkes the carb.

Go to "Ereplacemnt parts" on their web site is a good general proceedure for diagnosing blue smokes.
Never assume anything, start at the beginning & go through to the end.
They oft have more the 1 problem and it is a waste of time working on a carb for an hour only to find the crank seals have gone.
You replace the seals and fine the primary compression is poor and finally pull off the exhaust to find the piston looks like a railroad track.
So by now you have spent $ 30 on parts, put in 3 hours of work on an engine that will not go so have to give it back to the customer as unrepairable and wear the losses which won't send you broke but ain't going to buy you any beer either.

I have a vacuum cleaner that blows as well as sucks so after I do a carb I hook the carb to the vacuum and check that fuel is comming out of the engine end.
I am working on a flow bench so I can bolt the carb to it and check things a bit better than tying to do a 3 hand shuffle and it is hard to hold the hose against the carb when the choke is closed but the low speed jets are the ones that block up most.

This is a lot lot lot easier than bolting it back up to the engine and pulling the cord till your fingers turn blue.
 

Mikel1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
897
Bert makes some valid points. I also have a vacuum like that.
Since your a hobbyist I would try to fix it. It would be a good learning experience since your just starting out. I seen this thread on another forum you posted to but I don't frequent that forum much anymore.
 

FPMotorsports

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Threads
4
Messages
28
Thanks mikel1! That other forum is rather useless I've found. It's not active enough to produce results.

With that all being said I plan on getting to try some of these suggestions tomorrow evening. Been swamped lately.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,643
Thanks mikel1! That other forum is rather useless I've found. It's not active enough to produce results.

With that all being said I plan on getting to try some of these suggestions tomorrow evening. Been swamped lately.

It took me a long while to get set up.
I always pull the exhaust off as they are easy to get at and I need to check for scoring before I spend any of the customers money.
Thus the easiest thing to do was to cut some 1/4 rubber sheet into strips to cover over the exhaust port then using the muffler to clamp it down.
On the other end as needed I make up blanking off plates with a hole in the centre then cut some old inner tubes around the valve section abd clamped this down over the inlet.
Piston at the bottom of the stroke this will test the crankcase seals and they must be tested both in vacuum & pressure .
Under pressure you will need to use some sort of piston stop ( i use rope inside the cylinder ,) or the piston will rise
If it passes then crank to TDC to test the rings as 2 stroke rings should deal in both directions.

You can go as far as drilling out a 12MM bolt to make a pressurizing port for the top of the cylinder which is a lot cheaper than buying a leak down tester
 

FPMotorsports

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Threads
4
Messages
28
UPDATE:

First of all, thanks to EVERYONE that contributed to this. Not only did it get fixed but during the process I learned a pile of stuff I didnt know, especially in terms of troubleshooting issues such as this. What tools are valuable to own and acquire. That everyone is amazing on LawnWorld.

So coming back to the weed eater...

I forgot to mention in the original post that I had removed and cleaned the carb for kicks anyways, early when I got this unit. Just to learn and practice. Today when I got home I took a shot of fuel in the carb and in the plug hole and 5 pulls later it was running. Made some carb adjustments and its good to go.

Thank you all so much!

I look forward to the next mess yall get to help me with, and I long for the day I get to help others!
 

Mikel1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
897
Thanks mikel1! That other forum is rather useless I've found. It's not active enough to produce results.

With that all being said I plan on getting to try some of these suggestions tomorrow evening. Been swamped lately.

Yeah I noticed not much going on there and it took days for you to get any replies. I noticed 30yeartech is still there but looks like some of the others have moved on.

Congrats on getting it back running:thumbsup:
 

Mikel1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
897
It took me a long while to get set up.
I always pull the exhaust off as they are easy to get at and I need to check for scoring before I spend any of the customers money.
Thus the easiest thing to do was to cut some 1/4 rubber sheet into strips to cover over the exhaust port then using the muffler to clamp it down.
On the other end as needed I make up blanking off plates with a hole in the centre then cut some old inner tubes around the valve section abd clamped this down over the inlet.
Piston at the bottom of the stroke this will test the crankcase seals and they must be tested both in vacuum & pressure .
Under pressure you will need to use some sort of piston stop ( i use rope inside the cylinder ,) or the piston will rise
If it passes then crank to TDC to test the rings as 2 stroke rings should deal in both directions.

You can go as far as drilling out a 12MM bolt to make a pressurizing port for the top of the cylinder which is a lot cheaper than buying a leak down tester

I found that magnetic strips work well, cuts easily with scissors and can be layered if needed. My father has a sign shop so I just take scraps if I need any. A soapy water mix in a spray bottle is handy to have.

They make a compression spark plug adapter that has the air hookup, 12mm threads. I got one in a compression tester kit on ebay.
 

FPMotorsports

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Threads
4
Messages
28
Do you happen to have a link of the one that worked for you or the part number perhaps?
 

motoman

Lawn Addict
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Threads
65
Messages
2,566
Soapbox time (again). The information in this thread is invaluable and I have never seen any details ike this in service manuals. As such again kudos to those sharing their experience and..another plea to the administrators of this forum. Such information should not be lost to ? 75% of inquiring site visitors. Put it in a sticky so it is always available at the head of the forums. End of speech...no tomatoes or eggs...
 

Mikel1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
897
Top