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Echo Weed Eater Problems

By Home & Garden Last updated Thursday, April/18/2024

Echo weed eaters can develop filter and spark plug problems.lawn image by Allyson Ricketts from Fotolia.com

Echo produces a line of weed eaters and shrub trimmers that operate using a gas-based engine. These weed eaters are simple devices based on a single rotor system, but they can still experience problems. Many problems stem from the haze of dust and plant material that weed eaters tend to kick up into the air. Other problems may occur with the internal parts of the engine itself.

Clogs

Fuel line clogs are a common problem for Echo weed eaters. The clogs occur when debris collects in the fuel tank and eventually clumps together. The debris blocks the line that the fuel uses to travel into the combustion chamber. As a result, the engine does not work and the motor is very slow to respond. Solve this problem by taking apart the weed eater and cleaning out the fuel lines.

The fuel mix is the type of fuel that the user fills the weed eater with. Echo weed eaters are designed to work best with a certain type of fuel (see owner's manual for specific Echo models), and if the fuel is too rich, the engine will have trouble starting and the muffler will probably become wet with fuel. Users can switch to a recommend version of fuel or adjust the carburetor on the weed eater to fix the problem.

The air filter cleans the air that the weed eater takes in to mix with the fuel that it uses. If the weed eater suddenly dies or has trouble accelerating sometimes, this is usually a sign that the air filter has become blocked with debris. Either clean the air filter, or replace it entirely to fix the problem.

Spark plugs can develop problems too, causing the engine to stop working. The spark gap may be too wide, or the plug itself is covered with carbon or grime. If this happens, the spark cannot jump and ignite the fuel correctly. Fortunately, the problem is generally solved by replacing the spark plug or making a few minor adjustments.

If the engine does not crank at all, the weed eater has an internal engine problem. This problem is possibly electrical in nature or may be the result of a flaw in the engine components. These flaws are very difficult to detect and are only solved by replacing the weed eater entirely.