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pikeman · Oct 6, 2006, 06:24 PM

My darling wife ran a Craftsman leaf blower with straight gas - no oil mixed in. It ran about 10 minutes then stopped. The starter cord will not pull. I took it apart and can see what is stopping the cord - 2 spring loaded arms are hitting a round, grooved plastic piece in such a way that it stops (the starter piston, or some such thing).

Is the motor seized and toast? What should I do?

Obviously I'm no mechanic - so thanks for your patience with my description.

thebriggsdude · Oct 7, 2006, 12:04 AM

If you took the starter housing off (which those two pawls should catch that plastic piece you referred to, in order to turn the engine over) but with that off, and it still doesn't... yes its toast... and I'm surprised it lasted 10 minutes on straight gas... these engines are basically throw aways... worth more as scrap then to rebuild... does it have any warranty? Sears may actually fix it for you... believe it or not they have fixed them due to the customers mistakes.

By the way, next time... make sure it's a small one gallon can, labeled 2 cycle gas or mix... and make sure she knows it (or anyone else)... that that is just for that... and if its empty, wait till you mix some fresh...
2 cycles require that oil in the gas... like a 4 cycle requires it in the crankcase or it will burn itself up.

pikeman · Oct 7, 2006, 05:00 AM

UUHHMMM the small one gallaon can WAS labeled! Oh well. It is less than a year old and I will try Sears. I once slammed my fly rod in the truck door and LL Bean replaced it! It's nice when others save us from our mistakes.

Thank you.

bubbandmargie · Oct 8, 2006, 08:34 PM

If sears will not replace it, you may try this - it worked for me. I had bought a skid of sears returned items. In it was a blower which evidently had the same thing happen to it. It was seized up. I took the spark plug out, sprayed a lubricant into it. (maybe PB blast) then insert a long bolt the largest that will fit into the hole and GENTLY tap the piston just enough to make it move. Then remove the bolt and turn the rotor through a few times. It may or may not work. Mine did. Sometimes the cylinder walls and rings will scar in a seize. Sometimes they won't.

thebriggsdude · Oct 8, 2006, 10:19 PM

Bubba is correct... you may get it loose but being as its more then likely a single piston ring/aluminum bore and piston... these aluminum parts scar very easy... and will cause little to no compression...

2 cycles need at least 90psi, and then it's a bear to start.

countrygent · Dec 7, 2009, 05:59 PM

Bubba, your suggestion about tapping the top of the seized piston with a hammer just saved me several hundred dollars! I inadvertently put some raw gas in my Husqvarna backpack blower and, after a few minutes of running, it locked up solid. Took it to a repair shop, was told that the engine was ruined and that the repair would be $200, or I could buy a new one for $250. I bought the new one this morning and got my old one back in pieces, in a box. On a whim, I decided to try your suggestion. Sure enough, the piston moved ever so slightly. I then used a small pipe wrench to turn the flywheel. It took several revolutions with the wrench before the wheel would turn by hand. I reassembled the unit, poured a little gas/oil mixture into the hole where the spark plug goes, then about a pint into the fuel tank. The engine fired after about six pulls, belched a lot of smoke (presumably from the penetrating oil I had sprayed into the cylinder), then began running like a top! I was able to return the new blower for a full refund. The repair guy was shocked when I started the blower in his shop. He said there was definitely pitting in the cylinder wall, and he doubted the blower would hold compression for very long. I ran it continuously for a good hour this afternoon and it performed perfectly. Whether I get two more hours or two more years out of it, it feels good to salvage a nice piece of equipment that would have been thrown in the trash had I not read your post. Thanks again.

johnyredd99 · Nov 30, 2010, 09:37 PM

Used bubba's suggestion but also as soon as I reliezed what happened I pulled spark plug out and filled cylinder w/ 10w30 put plug back in and let the blower sit for two days. Pulled plug out, couple taps w/ large bolt, then spun w/ a wrench while I shot wd40 in spark plug hole... So far so good. Thanks for the advice

thejteam6 · Nov 12, 2011, 10:53 AM

You rock Bubba. I was getting ready to toss mine after my brother in law ran my blower without the oil mix and it froze up. Sure enough it worked!! Just finished using my blower for an hour and had no problems. Thanks a bunch.

bryrex · Nov 12, 2012, 01:23 PM

Yes indeed! Bubba's solution just worked for me as well. Back out to finish the leaves. Thanks for the posting Bubba!

chris41159 · Apr 30, 2013, 05:09 PM

Just want to say I have a leaf blower feather light and my girlfriend ran it a few weeks ago with the wrong gas "no oil" and after reading this I went and took the spark plug out, sprayed some wd40 into the hole, stuck my bit driver into the hole and tapped it with a hammer till it moved. Drained gas and started it right up. Thanks for the advice. Took all of 10 min.

isrm · May 28, 2013, 10:01 AM

Hey Bubba:
You're a genius! I never did anything like this before, but the engine seized, even though I know I had used oil in my gas mix. I followed your directions, and after I freed up the piston I let it sit overnight. It was a little hard to start , but once I got it running for a while it it worked well. I shut it down , & it restarted easily. Thanks for the help!
ISRM

toolmom90 · Nov 10, 2013, 11:37 AM

I tried this and it would start but then stop and seize again. I would pull the plug out and put a bit of PB break in, I could turn it and it would start, then stop again and seize. Is it toast ?

Zoogie · Oct 11, 2014, 12:13 PM

Yup... Bubba's idea worked for me on the Hitachi RB24EAP leaf blower. Working well now.

noahsmybro · Oct 25, 2014, 01:01 PM

Hoping somebody can help me understand what is going on with my leaf blower, and also let me know if I need to just accept that it's dead.

Leaf blower is an Echo - I think it is the Model # PB-500TC - $300 at Home Depot.

Last Sunday afternoon as I was using the blower it made a noise and died. I could not pull the cord to restart it. I examined the gas in my can (labelled Oil-Gas MIX!) and the gas looked pretty clear, and didn't feel oily, so I conclude that at some point I put gas in the can and then didn't bother to add the oil mix. Don't know why, but it seems the likeliest explanation.

I found this page and tried the tips above:
- I removed the spark plug, sprayed some WD-40 in through the sparkplug socket, inserted a socketwrench extension, and gently tapped with a hammer until I felt the piston move. After that the cord pulled easily, maybe easier than before, maybe too easily? I added the oil mix to the gas in the blower and tried again, but the blower still wouldn't start.

- Thinking the spark plug might have been wet from the WD-40, I tried again every couple of days all week, hoping it would have dried out. Still no luck.

- This morning I tried again, still nothing. I found this page - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/electrical-power-machinery-tools-sharpening/362154-craftsman-leaf-blower-wont-start.html#b - and after reviewing it I added a small amount of motor oil (5w-20 if it matters) into the spark plug socket.

NOW, I again can't pull the starter cord at all.

When compression is mentioned - does that mean the air pressure in the cylinder, due to the piston sliding within the cylinder? It has to be just right, right? Too much, and the piston can't move, too little and there won't be enough pressure to permit the fuel to combust?

SO if that is correct, then when I ran the engine without oil the cylinder wall and piston effectively fused? And then, when I tapped the piston to free it up, it would have left physical damage on the cylinder wall, such that it is no longer "airtight" enough, and there isn't enough compression to allow the fuel to explode?

I can't believe just adding a tiny amoutn of engine oil would then seal things up so tightly that I again can't move the engine at all by pulling the cord. Is that really the most likely explanation?

Sorry about the naïve questions, but I'm trying to save this thing hoping I'm not out $300 from my stupidity. The leaf blower is only 2 years old (purchased Nov 2012) and I really don't want to return to raking, or shell out another few hundred right now.

Thanks for any helpful tips, or explanations and convincing reasons for me to just accept defeat.