How to repair a troublesome Victa hedger that won't start?

Noyade

Purchased from Bunnings (five years ago?).

Clearance item. Heavily discounted.

Worked perfectly until earlier this year.

Very hard to start - maybe 50 pulls of the cord required.

Once idling, when you squeeze the throttle - there is a quick increase in RPM - then if you continue to squeeze, the engine stalls.

Dunno why?

MitchellMc

Hi @Noyade,

I presume the air filter is clean, the fuel you're using is less than a year old, and you've replaced the spark plug in the time you've had the machine. Given that, then it sounds like a carburettor issue with it being clogged or dirty. Been using E10 in it? Although E10 can be used in small engines, it's my personal experience that it tends to leave a lacquer-like varnished coating over internal parts, and this can easily block a jet. Not sure if you've ever disassembled a small engine that's been running on E10, but you'll see a yellowish varnish on surfaces that can be chipped off. I've never had any issues with seals or gaskets being deteriorated by it, but apparently, that is a thing. I always advise customers to purchase premium as you use a small quantity. Also, when putting the tool away for the season, I recommend pouring out the remaining fuel and running it until it cuts out. This ensures that fuel doesn't sit in the carby for the next few months and go bad, clogging everything up.

As an educated guess, I'd say your carburettor needs to be cleaned out and those jets checked to see if they are blocked.

Mitchell