Pull Start Wont Turn

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WHoyt

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Location
Lodi, CA
I have an echo 602vl. I had it running great for about a year, then let it sit for a while. Went to start it, and it was air locked. I pull on the rope, but the engine barely gives. When I remove the spark plug, it spins freely. I had a lawnmower do the same thing and i adjusted the valve lash, and that fixed it. Is this the same issue, how do i fix this?

Thank you in advance.
 
I have an echo 602vl. I had it running great for about a year, then let it sit for a while. Went to start it, and it was air locked. I pull on the rope, but the engine barely gives. When I remove the spark plug, it spins freely. I had a lawnmower do the same thing and i adjusted the valve lash, and that fixed it. Is this the same issue, how do i fix this?

Thank you in advance.
Here we go!
Is it flooded?
 
You don't have valves on this engine. Have you added fuel or tried to prime it? If you primed it with fuel, it could be trying to fire. Have you tried to pull it with the ignition off?

I have tried with ignition off. Took off air filter, took off spark plug and cranked alot to try and clear it if it was flooded. Cleaned spark plug. This doesnt have a priming bulb to prime with. It has fuel. I havnt added any as it wont spin.
 
I have tried with ignition off. Took off air filter, took off spark plug and cranked alot to try and clear it if it was flooded. Cleaned spark plug. This doesnt have a priming bulb to prime with. It has fuel. I havnt added any as it wont spin.
Can you remove the starter cover and turn the flywheel by hand with the spark plug in? Make sure ignition is off.
 
No gas dumps out it aint flooded.
Pull the muffler and see if the piston is scored .

i have read there is a consistent issue where carburetor will Flood engine just sitting there. I took air compressor and shot air into the spark plug hole and Took exhaust off and did the same there. Im getting it to turn a tiny bit more now. But i broke the starter handle. So. I will get another one and keep trying. I drained all the gas so it stops flooding in the meantime. Also will rebuild carburetor to fix flooding issue and hopefully get it going again.
 
i have read there is a consistent issue where carburetor will Flood engine just sitting there. I took air compressor and shot air into the spark plug hole and Took exhaust off and did the same there. Im getting it to turn a tiny bit more now. But i broke the starter handle. So. I will get another one and keep trying. I drained all the gas so it stops flooding in the meantime. Also will rebuild carburetor to fix flooding issue and hopefully get it going again.
Did you look at the piston through the exhaust port?
 
I have been around Echos pretty much since they came to the states. I'm not aware of any carb problem that would cause it to flood while sitting. It's not a big saw so it shouldn't be hard to pull over. I don't under stand how it could spin over easy with the plug out, but not at all with the plug in. I had a Stihl 08S my buddy pulled out of a dumpster. It was real hard to pull over, turned out the recoil was just dirty and needed cleaning. I have an Echo 601vl and it seems to be a very straight forward saw. I don't know what you mean by "air locked". When the piston gets to the exhaust stroke, it's a big open port, there is nothing blocking the air to lock it. I have seen old LawnBoy 2 stroke mowers that built up so much carbon around the exhaust port they wouldn't run, but they did still spin over. When people used to talk about a saw being "Vapor Locked", that was a fuel issue, the engine would still spin over. You didn't try starting it with starting fluid did you. Or, run it on straight gas. I have a Homelite XL700 that was run on starting fluid for an extended time and it melted the rings into the piston, but it still spins. I'd pull the recoil starter off and make sure it pulls in and out freely. Got me stumped?
 
Scoring ,lines.
OK, my first guess, straight gassed, locked up? But it spins when plug out.
Second guess, it's just bad fuel gummed up from sitting. But it won't spin with plug in?
Third guess, even though it's only a 60CC saw, it has enough compression it fights him to crank it?
If the P/C was scored, it would have low compression and not start, but should be easy to crank over.

Where would you go from here? Just asking? To me the symptoms don't add up.
 
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