An Excersize in Frustration

[Skywatcher]

Greetings All.

How's this for an interesting one. Was given a Stihl FS-85 with worn out rings. Replaced rings and rebuilt carb with new aftermarket gasket and diaphragm kit. Unit started right up and ran fine. Tried to restart, totally flooded out. Emptied fuel tank and used air purge bulb to clear carburetor. Cleared cylinder and pre-heated sparkplug. Started and ran unit dry. Refilled tank, started and ran just fine. Shut down and set on ground, fuel started pouring from air filter housing. Removed and dismantled carburetor to check metering lever height, OK. Reassembled and reinstalled, fueled up and flooded again. Removed carb and pressure tested fuel inlet, no pressure build up. Removed primer assembly and re tested, held pressure. Reassembled and metering needle leaked again. By this time I was just about seeing double so dropped everything on the bench and called it a night.

Next morning, had another look with a clear head. The rivet on the top side of the metering diaphragm was about 1/64" too long so was just touching the underside of the plastic primer assembly so taking the spring pressure off the metering needle. Added a second gasket above the metering diaphragm, problem solved. Ran 1½ tanks of fuel through the unit trimming the grass around our trees this afternoon, unit ran perfectly. Who would have thought that such a small difference would have caused that much frustration. All the best,

Sky

[HondaG100]

Congrats on finding and fixing a such a unique issue!

[Pete in Milton]

Did you let your parts supplier know about the faulty diaphragm?
Would save countless others who don't have access to this forum the same frustration.

[KE4AVB]

That one of the reasons I avoid AM kits. Just not worth the headaches that I had when I first started rebuilding these carbs with kits having wrong gaskets or parts that simply would not hold up. I just get the OEM Zama or Walbro kits for those carbs and for some carbs now it is just as cost effective to replace the whole unit.

[38racing]

My aftermarket supplier had a batch of Tecumseh air filters which had an undersize hole.

[RoyM]

I have gotten very frustrated with AM parts. I don't mind a wheel or a blade, that is easy to deal with, but engine parts are another matter. The time spent farting around with them more than covers the cost of OEM. After two sets of points in a Kohler, I finally gave up and ordered the original factory part. The customer was unhappy with the wait but understood when I explained the situation.

[38racing]

How do you find OEM pricing between sellers? I get autoparts from a USA supplier. Their site will show a specific part along with their regular price and prices of 4 competitors and there is a wide range from cheapest to most expensive for the very same part. And try to buy it in Canada! For example a friend damaged his transmission pan on a exposed manhole in a repaving area. The AC delco pan from a GM dealer here in Canada was $300 CDN. That very same pan (AC) from my USA supplier would have been $115 CDN delivered to the door ($55 of the total was shipping and import charges). Aftermarket was about $25 cheaper. Since he could not wait he chose aftermarket from a local supplier for $94 Cdn.
I have found a place in Michigan that has a lot of OEM stuff. It looks like their pricing is fair. Unfortunately I lose over 20% on the $ conversion. However this place is marketing to Canada and a recent order of $148 USD (after 10% discount) cost me $12 shipping and $8 import. Unfortunately they also collect my 13% canadian HST tax. I might get away from the 13% on ebay with USPS delivery but it is hard to find a shipping fee under $30 even for the smallest order.

[38racing]

I don't know if ordertree is a big supplier in the USA but their website now has a Canadian option. Lots of OEM parts come up but 99% of the time that I look up a part of I get this message
"This product is not available in the requested quantity. 1 of the items will be backordered." And the quantity ordered was 1. If you click enough the message may go away but then when I ordered, it never shipped. Turned out to be backordered.

[bgsengine]

I don't know if ordertree is a big supplier in the USA but their website now has a Canadian option. Lots of OEM parts come up but 99% of the time that I look up a part of I get this message
"This product is not available in the requested quantity. 1 of the items will be backordered." And the quantity ordered was 1. If you click enough the message may go away but then when I ordered, it never shipped. Turned out to be backordered.

Yup - It is quite common in this business.. but at least with them they let you know it'll have to be ordered in and can't ship right away - most other sites may have the parts listed and showing available (Including mine) but not everything can possibly be in stock.. usually not a problem as orders to suppliers get in the next day or 2 days max.. only problems come up when an item goes NLA or backordered unexpectedly (Dealers don't get any notice either other than a disposition code in a price file - IF they can get a price file.)

[38racing]

One last whine on Canadian prices. A Canadian journalist returning home now from a posting in DC. EBook on his usa Apple device is 20 USD. In CDN that is about 25 . but his mother's price on her Canada Apple device is 50 CDN. And there is no border inspection.