Craftsman hedge trimmer, God only knows how old. Always ran great.



Now will only start at full choke (where it shouldn't even start). This is with the throttle held all the way open by the little holder you're supposed to engage when you start it.



If I move it to half choke, it revs way up then quickly dies. Can't even get the switch to choke off before it's dead.



My limited knowledge says it's running too rich, but I don't know what to do about it. There are two little adjustment screws next to the choke, but they have little plastic stops on them that keep them from turning very far. Fiddling with either or both of them seems to have no effect.



I'll go look for the book but I don't think I have it. This is a hand-me-down from Dad.



Any advice appreciated.

free bump to enlighten me as well.. BUT make sure that the air intake filters is clean - my weedeater was running similarly and the filter screen was filthy dirty.. After cleaning it, the weedeater ran a little better but not perfect yet..

Could also be deposits in the carb from leaving gas in it..  Seafoam is suppose to be good at cleaning out small engines

Brian

You prob have a clogged impulse hose that is not allowing gas to be pulled into the carb.  There are 2 hoses coming out of your gas tank, one is connected to a filter which you should replace.  Both those hoses are easily replaced an may just solve your prob.  try this before you start adj the idle or mixture.

Make sure the fuel line isn't cracked and drawing in air. They have a nasty tendency to break down as they age. Replacement hose is cheap from a REAL small engine repair place.

Ah I was wondering about that because the other weird thing is, the little primer bulb won't pop back out when you squeeze it. Makes sense.

Another victim of ethanol...

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It could very easily be this.

Left in a gas tank, that shit goes bad scary fast...

That would mean what, exactly?

Ethanol absorbs moisture. After it's been sitting unused in a gas tank for a while, the moisture tends to separate from the gasoline, forming globs of water. The water corrodes parts of the carb (and sometimes the gas tank), and causes stalling or rough running.

Here's a link to an article that describes the problems it creates in portable generators.

It also plays hell with the rubber/vinyl parts of an omnidirectional 2 stroke carb.  Bad fuel can just be dumped out.  Fuel system parts that should be flexable like diaphrams can permanently harden and make proper fuel delivery impossible.