I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?

--
Chris Green

wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?

is it even coughing?

If its anywhere like getting fuel and a spark it should at least fire a bit.

If its doing nothing there are three things that are indicated
- no spark at all (is the on-switch ON?' Done that too many times).
- no fuel at all - but the bulb pump prime should take care of that.
- far too much fuel and the plug is flooded. Remove and dry, then replace.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?

is it even coughing?

Very rarely, most of the time it does just nothing.


If its anywhere like getting fuel and a spark it should at least fire a bit.

That's my feeling too, but it's not helping me much! :-)


If its doing nothing there are three things that are indicated
- no spark at all (is the on-switch ON?' Done that too many times).

I keep thinking this and checking for a spark, whenever I check for a
spark it's there OK, though not incredibly strong.


- no fuel at all - but the bulb pump prime should take care of that.

There's always fuel in the bulb.


- far too much fuel and the plug is flooded. Remove and dry, then replace.

Possibly, but whenever I check for spark etc., the plug isn't wet.

--
Chris Green

On Aug 12, 3:09*pm, wrote:
Ryobi

Check the cylinder is still attached to the crankcase. Any black oily
leakage around the joint? Common fault. Five minutes and a #27 Torx
bit (a slightly obscure size) fixes it.

On 12.08.2012 17:09, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?
is it even coughing?

If its anywhere like getting fuel and a spark it should at least fire a
bit.

If its doing nothing there are three things that are indicated
- no spark at all (is the on-switch ON?' Done that too many times).
- no fuel at all - but the bulb pump prime should take care of that.
- far too much fuel and the plug is flooded. Remove and dry, then replace.

Also turn the motor a little with the plug out, in order to make the
motor more dry. It also helps to write on the plug with an ordinary
carbon pencil. I do not know why that helps. The little carbon on the
plug "pins" may help to start the "fire".
--
jo
A great deal of the universe does not need any explanation.
Elephants, for instance. Once molecules have learnt to compete
and to create other molecules in their own image, elephants,
and things resembling elephants, will in due course be found
roaming around the countryside
...
Some of the things resembling elephants will be men. --P. W. Atkins

I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


Do you have a butane or propane torch? If so try directing some gas into the
air filter when trying to start it. If it fires up then stops when you take
the gas away you have fuel starvation. If it continues to run problem
solved.

Mike

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:24:16 +0100, wrote:



- far too much fuel and the plug is flooded. Remove and dry, then replace.

Possibly, but whenever I check for spark etc., the plug isn't wet.


If fuel is getting thru then the plug WILL be wet. Suspect a fuel
blockage somewhere - which is probably why it stopped before, ie it
didn't actually run out of fuel as you thought. Dismantle thr carb?

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 15:09:16 +0100, tinnews wrote:
Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have also
left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence, still
no joy.

Hmm, try disconnecting the spark and then turning it over a few times
before checking the cylinder for fuel - "smells as if fuel is getting
through" might not necessarily be a good test, but the interior of the
cylinder should be obviously wet with fuel if the carb's doing its job
and there's nothing to ignite the mixture.

In addition to other comments, I suppose it might be a sheared flywheel
key, and the flywheel has spun on the crank such that the timing's
completely out; that could account for presence of spark and fuel mix,
but no actual running. It seems unlikely if it stopped due to lack of
fuel (rather than sudden impact with an obstacle), but not impossible.

cheers

Jules

On 12/08/2012 15:09, wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?

Try what everyone else said, however one thing worth also checking is
the cylinder bore. When this happened to my first ryobi, it turns out it
had ingested a bit of its own carb or some other metallic foreign body.
The results were not pretty:

http://www.internode.co.uk/ryobi/

(Now on Ryobi 2!)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


A problem we had with an outboard once was caused by the shearing of the
woodruff key holding the flywheel in the right position on the crank
resulting in sparks at the wrong time. Potentially something similar?

Tim

Simon Cee wrote:
On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:24:16 +0100, wrote:



- far too much fuel and the plug is flooded. Remove and dry, then replace.

Possibly, but whenever I check for spark etc., the plug isn't wet.


If fuel is getting thru then the plug WILL be wet. Suspect a fuel
blockage somewhere - which is probably why it stopped before, ie it
didn't actually run out of fuel as you thought. Dismantle thr carb?

I've dismantled it a couple of times now, nothing obvious amiss though
how to tell whether the main jet is blocked or not I don't quite know.
It is all very small and difficult to see what's what.

--
Chris Green

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Aug 12, 3:09Â*pm, wrote:
Ryobi

Check the cylinder is still attached to the crankcase. Any black oily
leakage around the joint? Common fault. Five minutes and a #27 Torx
bit (a slightly obscure size) fixes it.

At my last attempt to see what was wrong I took it almost completely
apart and put it back together again including removal of top of
cylinder etc. Nothing really appears to be wrong.

I'm wondering if I'm suffering from 'tunnel vision' because it stopped
working just when it ran out of fuel. It did make a couple of odd
rattles in the last few minutes before it stopped and I'm wondering if
something vital has broken inside (the only place I haven't looked
inside is the crankcase/exhaust).

--
Chris Green

Muddymike wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


Do you have a butane or propane torch? If so try directing some gas into the
air filter when trying to start it. If it fires up then stops when you take
the gas away you have fuel starvation. If it continues to run problem
solved.

I'm not sure I've got enough hands to to that! :-)

Maybe an exercise to try with a helper when I get back from a short
holiday we're about to take.

--
Chris Green

Jules Richardson wrote:
On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 15:09:16 +0100, tinnews wrote:
Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have also
left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence, still
no joy.

Hmm, try disconnecting the spark and then turning it over a few times
before checking the cylinder for fuel - "smells as if fuel is getting
through" might not necessarily be a good test, but the interior of the
cylinder should be obviously wet with fuel if the carb's doing its job
and there's nothing to ignite the mixture.

Yes, I'm wondering about that, I've not seen it wet with fuel at all
since it died. Maybe I *have* got a blocked jet.

In addition to other comments, I suppose it might be a sheared flywheel
key, and the flywheel has spun on the crank such that the timing's
completely out; that could account for presence of spark and fuel mix,
but no actual running. It seems unlikely if it stopped due to lack of
fuel (rather than sudden impact with an obstacle), but not impossible.

I'm pretty sure it didn't suffer a sudden stop, though it is possible
as I was running with a brush cutter blade on it when it stopped.

--
Chris Green

Tim+ wrote:
wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


A problem we had with an outboard once was caused by the shearing of the
woodruff key holding the flywheel in the right position on the crank
resulting in sparks at the wrong time. Potentially something similar?

Yes, someone else has suggested this too. I will investigate.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful ideas and comments. I don't think
I have time today/tomorrow to waste any more time on it but I will
have a good, thorough look at it when I come back in ten days or so.

--
Chris Green

wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:
On Aug 12, 3:09 pm, wrote:
Ryobi
Check the cylinder is still attached to the crankcase. Any black oily
leakage around the joint? Common fault. Five minutes and a #27 Torx
bit (a slightly obscure size) fixes it.

At my last attempt to see what was wrong I took it almost completely
apart and put it back together again including removal of top of
cylinder etc. Nothing really appears to be wrong.

I'm wondering if I'm suffering from 'tunnel vision' because it stopped
working just when it ran out of fuel. It did make a couple of odd
rattles in the last few minutes before it stopped and I'm wondering if
something vital has broken inside (the only place I haven't looked
inside is the crankcase/exhaust).

IF it started misfiring and then cut it improves the chance that the key
has sheared throwing the timing out.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

wrote:
Jules Richardson wrote:

In addition to other comments, I suppose it might be a sheared flywheel
key, and the flywheel has spun on the crank such that the timing's
completely out; that could account for presence of spark and fuel mix,
but no actual running. It seems unlikely if it stopped due to lack of
fuel (rather than sudden impact with an obstacle), but not impossible.

I'm pretty sure it didn't suffer a sudden stop, though it is possible
as I was running with a brush cutter blade on it when it stopped.

ah.

It certainly is possible that it sheared partially under heavy load and
then finished the job off under acceleration later on.

The key is the last defence against a broken or bent crankshaft.

If you can get the flywheel off its a simple fix. The key(sic!) is
getting the flywheel off.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

Muddymike wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


Do you have a butane or propane torch? If so try directing some gas into
the
air filter when trying to start it. If it fires up then stops when you
take
the gas away you have fuel starvation. If it continues to run problem
solved.

I'm not sure I've got enough hands to to that! :-)

Maybe an exercise to try with a helper when I get back from a short
holiday we're about to take.


I do it by kneeling on the workshop floor with the machine on the floor and
the torch lying next to it with nozzle pointing up into the bottom of the
air filter. It doesn't have to be perfectly aligned, as long as the air
sucked in has an adequate mix of propane. I mostly start mine from cold like
this now as it's a bugger otherwise.

Mike

On Sunday, August 12, 2012 3:09:16 PM UTC+1, (unknown) wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times. Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once. I've checked that there's a spark (several times!)

Just becuase you ge ta sprak when the plug is out id not a guarantee. If the spark is weak for some reason it is possible to get a spark in air (with the plug out) but not when it is inside the cylinder.

Robert

On 13/08/2012 10:19 p.m., wrote:
Muddymike wrote:
I've been using my Ryobi strimmer all morning on and off, no problems
re-starting hot or cold. I stopped and started it several times.

Around lunch time it ran out of fuel so I refilled it and since then I
haven't been able to get a peep out of it, it's not even fired once.
I've checked that there's a spark (several times!) and it smells as if
fuel is getting through. It has fresh fuel and a new plug. I have
also left it for a longish period and retried the cold start sequence,
still no joy.

What can I be doing wrong?


Do you have a butane or propane torch? If so try directing some gas into the
air filter when trying to start it. If it fires up then stops when you take
the gas away you have fuel starvation. If it continues to run problem
solved.

I'm not sure I've got enough hands to to that! :-)

Maybe an exercise to try with a helper when I get back from a short
holiday we're about to take.


When my mower refuses to start I leave it for an hour or so. I never
went so far as to take a short holiday, but I can see how it could get
to that.

If it ran dry, it may be air locked. If it has a primer bulb and it doesn't feel spongy and fill with fuel, then the chances are that this is what is wrong.
You need to keep pull starting the machine and alternate this with pressing the primer bulb several times and eventually it should start. Also try a different plug to rule out a crack in the ceramic of the plug which would short out the high voltage.