Brush cutter behaves badly.

[Dmitry]

Hi, I have Husqvarna 327RJx brush cutter . I got it new last year and was not using it much. Never had a problem with it. I was doing some cleaning around the property today and on a second tank of fuel it started to act on it's own. RPM was dropping almost to idle mode despite me pushing throttle and then going back to full speed and then dropping again. I checked my air filter, seems clean and OK. What the next step? The fuel mix is not super fresh, about 3 weeks ,but ran ok for 2 tanks. Starts easy on first pool, idles good ,accelerates , but after couple seconds goes back to idle mode and then accelerates again if throttle pushed. it goes on and on. Any advice?

 

[TreePointer]

Note: It does have a 2 year warranty (4 years if using Husqvarna fuel), so you can make it Husqvarna's problem.

What's your fuel mix ratio? Does it have a spark arrestor you can clean?

 

[PWash]

My husky blower was downthrottling on its own and sometimes stalling out after running for a while. turned out the fuel line was pushed too far into the tank so that it couldnt pull fuel well when the tank was less than half full. id look closely around fuel line.

3 week old fuel is brand new compared to what i use. however i am careful to add copious amounts of sta-bil and use only non-ethanol gas.

 

[Dmitry]

Did some goggling and you tubing. Hopefully it's spark arrestor, going to check today after work.

 

[TreePointer]

Did some goggling and you tubing. Hopefully it's spark arrestor, going to check today after work.

Spark arrestor is not needed to run the engine, so you can test to see if that's the issue by temporarily running the engine without it.

 

[Snagdaddy]

if the brushcutter sat all winter with fuel in it, there is a chance that the ethanol dissolved the fuel lines and they are collapsing from suction when the throttle is increased. Also look for pinched fuel lines. Could also be crud in the carb from fuel that sat in there over the winter....this can cause various symptoms.

 

[Dmitry]

Removed spark arrestor , it's clean and nice . Runs same way . Checked the spark plug : perfect . Don't know what else to check . Called customer care , they said "go to dealer , sounds like you need carburetor adjustment "
I paid $423 for damn trimmer hoping it's not gonna do things like that.

 

[Dmitry]

Hm, actually when I looked at my posted pictures I can see some black deposits on a tip of spark plug , wondering if it can cause trimmer RPM to fluctuate and stall when pushed to the max. I don't think so , but ,again, not much of experience here

 

[PWash]

Did you try to peak at the fuel lines? you might see part of it by removing the air filter housing or looking thru the gas cap.. heres a diagram of the fuel lines. if its too complicated for you take it to a shop. (broken link removed to http://www.aaalawnmower.com/pages/oemparts?aribrand=honeng#%2fHusqvarna_Power_Equipment%2f327RJx_(2009-08)%2fFuel_Tank%2f46%7c%7e130%7c%7e2781%2f461300006)

 

[Dmitry]

Yeah, I did seems OK

 

[dougand3]

I'd change that plug. Parts Tree says replacement is Champion RCJ6Y. Most all small 2 cycles gap at .020" - .025".

 

[PWash]

Yeah, I did seems OK

Both ends of the tubes were in the bottom of the tank where they could draw fuel and not curled up? my 2cycle worked fine on a full tank then behaved poorly on a half tank.
if you have low usage and no abuse on the unit, i doubt you'd have carb, or spark plug issues yet.
im interested what the issue turns out to be.

 

[Dmitry]

Yeah tubes seems ok, fuel tank is full. I can't see fuel filter even with air housing off. I'm gonna try to get to it tomorrow, then I'll change spark plug . If nothing helps Ill go to the dealer.
I've bought chainsaw Rancher 460 at same time and was using it a lot, comparing to chainsaw this trimmer is brand new . But it failed first. Or I failed with fuel or whatever.

 

[dougand3]

You normally can't see a fuel pickup/filter when the tank is full of mix. Must stick in a hook and pull it out to examine. A coat hanger with a J on the end works.

 

[Dmitry]

Thank you for advice , what should I look for when inspecting the fuel filter? Any way to check if it's ok?

 

[dougand3]

It would be much easy to deal with if you empty tank. You can see and inspect the 2 lines so much better. A fuel pickup that is dark brown and varnishy looking gets replaced. And you can check fuel flow by blowing compressed air backward through it. I'll bet it's fine..unless you had ethanol gas in it for months and it jelled and varnished.

 

[Dmitry]

I think it's gonna be fine as well, the mix was made 3 weeks ago and I've used most of it with no problem for chain saw. Have some hope for spark plug but not much. The trimmer was not used much , so most likely it's faulty part . carburetor , I guess . Let's see how good is husqvarna warranty.

 

[Dmitry]

Update: I'm gonna start a new thread since situation has changed : I found defect in fuel line. The brush cutter is still under warranty , so I took it to dealer and having trouble already.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/husqvarna-dealer-playing-games-is-this-common-practice.144973/