DR Rapidfire Log Splitter

I bought a DR Rapidfire almost one year ago. I have been very satisfied with it and have posted that info elsewhere on this forum. That was until I had an issue with it.

Due to an injury, hospitalization and rehab, I have not been able to use the splitter for about 4 months. It was put in the shed and covered. The fuel was ethanol free and I added a stabilizer because I knew it would sit for a while.

Well, I pulled it out last week. Checked it out and tried to start it. NO GO. I had drained and replaced the fuel as a safeguard. I tried everything I could think of but no start. I had fire. If I put gas in the cylinder, it would fire for a few seconds then die. I pulled the carb off and cleaned it but cannot get fuel through it. I took the carb to a local Subaru authorized repair shop and they did a sonic cleaning of it. Still no good. They tried to order a rebuild kit and this is where it got difficult. Robins/Subaru does not offer rebuild kits for any of their small engines or parts. That is according to their southeastern parts distributor. They had a very hard time trying to figure out which parts go to this engine. It's an SP170. Now I have to order a new carb for about $130. OH, the carb is not covered under warranty and DR wants $189 for the same carb. I have until the 31st of this month to ship the whole thing back. That is part of their 1 year free trial. It would cost about $225 to ship it back. Meanwhile I'm still without a splitter. I might end up shipping it back even though I have been very happy with it until now.

Just thought I'd bring, those of you interested, up to speed. I've sung it's praises but I think it's only fair to point out it's faults also.

did you and/or the dealer actually take apart the carb to clean it? it sounds like either the needle is stuck or the float is stuck.
or does this engine have a fuel pump? possibe bad fuel pump...

Also be sure to check that you have good flow TO the pump or carb. Those little filters(if equipped) can be restricted/plugged along with the outlet from the fuel tank. Would think they would checked that out but I have solved many issues with small motors that factory service techs could not find, simply because they overlook the simple things.

If the motor runs by feeding it gas, your problem sounds like fuel supply rather than a carb issue.

Seems quite weird for a carb that new to need replacing all of a sudden.

I'd still bet a piece of dirt has something blocked.

You took the carb to the repair place - are you sure everything else is ok upstream of it?

(Not a fuel shut-off that didn't get turned back on by chance?)

I have very good flow to the carb. I cleaned everything myself. That includes the jets and teh needle valves. I could not get one of the valves out so I took it to the repair center. The filters and hoses are all clear. They keep trying to tell me that it's due to ethanol. I keep telling them that it has never had ethanol in it. I use nothing but Shell 93 octane and I test that when I refill my storage container. Then they insist that it must have been left out in the weather. It has not, but if it had, it's a splitter for crying out loud. It's never been in the rain, but if it had I would expect it could handle a little moisture. It's meant to work, not sit in the shop. the biggest problem is that no one seems sure about part numbers or gaskets. They keep coming up with different numbers. That is why I ordered it through the dealer. If it's wrong, they have to deal with it. That is why I wouldn't order them on Ebay.

Pa Pa Jack said:

OH, the carb is not covered under warranty

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Is this normal? If a new saw developed a throat infection during the warranty period, would it be covered?
Your car too?

Is this normal for small-engine powered machinery in America?

KiwiBro said:

Is this normal? If a new saw developed a throat infection during the warranty period, would it be covered?
Your car too?

Is this normal for small-engine powered machinery in America?

Click to expand...

IF there is a mechanical defect causing the problem, it would be covered. I cannot prove it is a mechanical issue. Something is plugged and, so far, I have been unable to figure out what.

Pa Pa Jack said:

IF there is a mechanical defect causing the problem, it would be covered. I cannot prove it is a mechanical issue. Something is plugged and, so far, I have been unable to figure out what.

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Wow, so the onus is on you to diagnose the issue? Frankly, unless you've thrown a cup of sugar, three cups of flour (sifted and not compressed) into the petrol tank then baked it (fan forced) for 30 minutes at 200 degrees, then that's not exactly demonstrating the level of service I thought DR were supposed to be renowned for.

You've an issue with the machine not working, therefor it's no reasonable stretch to assume it's a "mechanical issue" until proven otherwise. Well, to me at least.

*edit - two further thoughts*
1. having worked on the carb issues yourself as a non-authorised service technician, have you just voided the warranty anyway?
2. if you send it in to be looked at by their tech and they turn around and say is not a mechanical fault, does that make your refund decision any easier?

When you layed it up and added stabilizer to the tank did you run the engine for a few minutes to get the stabilizer worked into the carb?

GVS said:

When you layed it up and added stabilizer to the tank did you run the engine for a few minutes to get the stabilizer worked into the carb?

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Yes. That is the procedure I use for all my power equipment when putting it into storage for any length of time.

I used to work in a small engine shop. It is pretty standard for carbs to not be covered under warranty mainly because they get fouled up from bad fuel. Also a lot of small engines don't have rebuild-able carbs and they are fairly cheep to replace. Most of the time a good sonic clean will get the crap out of the carb, but not always. I would sure be calling DR and letting them know how unhappy I was about being charged for the carb.

Does that carb have welch plugs or any one way check valves inside? If it does and you can't get parts for it, only thing to do is replace it, if it is screwed up inside. Or USC again for like hours maybe..

By any chance did you pull the muffler and look for obstructions?

I am still amazed how fast mud daubers can render a good running engine into a yank your arm off POS no starter....

Won't DR at least look at your carb if you mail it to them?

Try a bit of pure seafoam, get it into the carb somehow? Maybe pull the fuel line and gravity feed it in while you yank it a few times, let it sit and soak overnight.

I have only used two bottles of seafoam and one of mechanic in a bottle, both worked well when i tried them, got really really nasty gunked up crap carbs at least kinda sorta running again. This is when all else has failed me.

For the price of shipping it back and or new carb and repair you can find a good used Honda from a burnt up pump or generator and swap it out!!!!!

Well, for you Dr. Splitter fans:
https://nh.craigslist.org/grd/d/epsom-dr-woodsplitter/6789309853.html
It's way off up in NH, besides.
Enjoy!

we should just add that to the billions of dollars Ethanol costs us every year

approx 150 gallons of diesel go into making 350 gallons of Ethanol that doesn't even figure in the Natural gas needed to distill the alcohol from the water . it is a net loss of BTU at each step.

we could burn the Diesel in trucks and run the cars on the compressed natural and be ahead . but then we couldn't call it a bio fuel.

and that wouldn't prop up the price of corn.

none of that even takes into account the chainsaws and small engines and carburetors lost to ethanol in gas .