Echo Won't Start: What to Check, In Order
Nearly every Echo that will not start has one of four cheap faults, and nearly everyone starts by suspecting the fifth. Working through them in order of likelihood costs almost nothing and resolves the large majority of cases before a carburettor is ever removed.
The order
| # | Check | Symptom | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuel age | Sat over winter, or mix older than a month or two | A can of fresh mix |
| 2 | Air filter | Starts, runs rich, dies at idle, bogs on throttle | A few dollars |
| 3 | Fuel lines, primer bulb, tank filter | Bulb will not fill, or fills and empties; runs at idle then dies on throttle | A tune-up kit |
| 4 | Spark plug | No start at all, plug wet or black with carbon | One plug |
| 5 | Carburettor | Everything above is good and it still will not hold a tune | Clean, rebuild, or replace |
The order is not arbitrary. Each step is cheaper and faster than the next, and each one rules out a fault that mimics the ones below it.
Fuel first, always
Petrol containing ethanol goes stale in weeks. It absorbs water, separates, and leaves a varnish through the fuel system that blocks the very small passages inside a two-stroke carburettor. A machine that ran fine in October and will not start in April almost always has this and nothing else.
Empty the tank completely - do not top it up. Mix fresh fuel at the ratio in your manual; Echo's Power Blend is 50:1, part 6450050 for the gallon bottle. Then try again before touching anything else.
Storing a machine with fuel in it is what creates this, and running it dry before storage avoids it entirely.
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The rubber parts perish, they do not wear
Fuel lines and primer bulbs age whether or not the machine is used. They go hard, then crack, usually where the line enters the tank or the bulb meets its seat. A cracked line draws air rather than fuel, so the engine gets a mixture it cannot run on no matter how much you prime.
The tell is the primer bulb. If it will not fill, or fills and then goes soft again, the fuel system is drawing air. If it fills and stays firm and the machine still will not start, the fault is elsewhere.
The in-tank fuel filter belongs to this group too. It is the small weighted cylinder on the end of the pickup line, it clogs invisibly, and it produces a machine that idles happily then dies the moment you open the throttle. Tune-up kits for the 225 family bundle all three.
Spark, and reading the plug
Pull the plug and look at it before replacing it, because it reports on the rest of the engine.
- Wet with fuel - flooded. Leave the plug out, pull the starter several times to clear the cylinder, dry the plug, refit.
- Black and sooty - running rich. Suspect the air filter first, then the mixture setting.
- Light grey or white - running lean. Worth investigating before it costs you a piston.
- Light brown - correct.
To test for spark, refit the plug in its cap, hold the metal body against the cylinder and pull the starter. A visible blue spark at the tip means the ignition side is fine.
Only then, the carburettor
If fuel is fresh, the filter is clean, the lines and bulb are sound and there is a good spark, the carburettor is a fair suspect. Even then, a strip and clean with a new diaphragm kit fixes more of these than a replacement does - the failure is nearly always varnish and hardened diaphragms rather than anything broken.
See carburettors and fitment for what fits which engine family and when replacing genuinely makes sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won't my Echo trimmer start after winter?
My Echo starts then dies when I give it throttle. Why?
The primer bulb won't fill on my Echo. What is wrong?
How do I know if the carburettor is the problem?
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