Mr Moderator - please don't move this, (edit by Steve00ram360... OK, but it'll cost you a 20 oz mountain dew... jk) I don't want to have to go to "off topic" where all the punks hang out......I'd rather have my fellow 2 geners help me.
I need help fixing my weedeater. Homelite that I've had forever. The gas tank is loose mounted in rubber. As it has gotten older, the tank moves more, and when you would set it down a little too hard it would move and yank the fuel hoses out of it. The hoses got so bad I had to go get new ones. They fit fine, but now the thing will start and run after priming and then it dies. If you hold it sideways so the fuel is covering the lines it will run all day. The minute you turn it back right side up and uncover the lines it dies. I have NEVER had a problem like this before. I don't know how the two lines work or which is which - but this is frustrating. I really don't want to go buy a new one if what's wrong is just something stupid.....HELP!

 

errr your going to get me in trouble you know that i i dont know man, maybe if you can get a pic it would be easier to understand. is it vertical feed or does it suck the fuel in? try taking the cap off. maybe you have a vacumme in it and its not letting the fuel go down.

 

eh.. always switch the lines and give it a shot... good ole trial and error.

is it carbed? or injected?

 

try pulling the fuel filter out. its that thing stuck to the end of the gas line floating around in the tank...blow it out or try a new one....

 

Are you saying that the lines do not extend below the level of the gas in the tank when you hold it upright? That could be the problem.

But if it only works when you hold it sideways, you now have an edger. Go to your local saw shop and get a Husqvarna, a big one that requires a shoulder strap to carry it, some of the triangular string, and you now have a multi-purpose monster. You can mow the grass, cut weeds, trim the bushes, take down small trees, strip the paint off of the fence, kill rodents, slash tires, and be the envy of the neighborhood. Just make sure you get ear and eye protection with it. Safety first.

 

what do the 2 lines go to? obviously one goes from tank to carb, but the other one?

this is just a guess here, but it might be set up like an R/C car, where the other line goes from the tank to the muffler.
if thats the case, then the line going from the tank to muffler is there to pressurize the fuel tank, to force fuel into the carb. the exhaust pressure pushes into that line, into the tank...you get the idea. if that second line has a hole or damage to it, it will not create pressure, and the fuel will not flow correctly.

 

what do the 2 lines go to? obviously one goes from tank to carb, but the other one?

I actually work for Weedeater, Homelite's a competitor. Anyway, our engines have two fuel lines. One goes from the fuel tank to the carburetor as the feed line. The other comes from the carburetor back to tank as a purge line. If it has a purge bulb on the carb, then squeeze it a few times. If you don't have the lines backward, you should see gas being squirted back into the fuel tank from the purge line.

 

I agree wtih the husqy idea....the string does all that but he never mentioned what the blade can do....commercial construction, large diameter tree timbering, crime watch, theft control, etc.

 

That's true, I forgot about the blades. I don't use the one on mine very much. As long as the blade has the right diameter hole, you can get any style blade you want. Metal cutting, masonry, diamond coated. Think of the possibilities. My Husqy was the largest you could buy at the time with a shaft drive. I can go through 3 ft tall grass and absolutly shred it; it looks like I hit it with a flail chopper or forage harvester. It's a little too much for just clipping some grass around the fence, but I bought it to use on my dad's farm.

Sorry about getting off track, just having a little fun here. Since your weedwhacker does run, I think the problem is with the length of the hoses. It sounds like they are not long enough to reach all the way to the bottom of the gas tank. Not sure if you purchased replacement lines from the company or just put on some hose that you may have picked up at the hardware store. But if the end of the hose is exposed, it will not pick up the gas. Like someone else noted, you may also want to look at installing a new filter if there was one on originally. So try getting some longer lines and see if that helps.

One of the lines is the pickup line that pulls the gas up into the carberator. The other one is probably a return line that will send the unused gas back or it may be a line to pressurize and help push the fuel back up the other line. Not sure. But I know my weedwacker has two lines also.

 

Thanks Guys! I figured it out after reading all the ideas, edits, and wisecracks.....You guys kill me - but thats why I come on here [sm=icon_cheers.gif]
The feed hose had come in two inside the tank. I didn't realize that there was a long hose IN the tank. I thought it developed suction on the tank to pull in the fuel. Thanks to you guys, I decided to empty the gas out and the hose and filter assembly fell out of the tank along with some other pieces of broken hose. Now I just have to go get a longer piece of hose tomorrow and then try to figure out how to get it through the tank and back through that little hole below the carb Hopefully the guy at the mower shop can tell me how to manage that......

Steve - if I ever meet you - I promise I'll get you a 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew.......OR even better, a 12 pack of our famous BUD LIGHT!!!!!