Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - McCullough random gas leakage

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Skroob23
07-01-05, 10:21 PM
I recently found a McCullough Eager Beaver 327 BC gas trimmer in the back of my garage. Apparently it had been my grandfather's, and from the looks of it, it probably is about 10 years old but has never been used before. After some use with it, I noticed a gas leak from a cracked fuel line. After replacing the cracked fuel line, I thought I had solved my problem until a couple days later there was another leak. The strange this is is that when i tried it out later, there were not more leaks and it worked fine. Even so, I replaced the other two fuel lines and soon afterward, the trimmer worked fine with no leaks; however, i'm still concerned that it could randomly start leaking again. My guess is that i primed it too much because the directions say to push the primer bulb 10 times before use, which seems to be too much. Anyone know any other reasons for the leaks?


cheese
07-01-05, 11:51 PM
On a 10 year old trimmer, there could be lots fo places it could leak. The primer bulb could have a small crack, fuel lines dry rotted, gas cap seal dry, and gaskets in the carburetor dry. These things will probably soften and seal better with use and contact with fuel. Keep an eye on it a little while, but it will probably stop. Chances are you solved it when you replaced the other fuel lines.

Skroob23
07-02-05, 02:14 PM
Thanks, I think I'll take a look at the carburator sometime and I think I should probably replace the primer bulb too. The lines did seem to fix the leak problem (from what I've seen), but the engine stalled out today after running for about 10 or 15 seconds when I tried to use it, fortunately, my neighbor let me borrow his to finish the lawn; however, when I tried it later, it worked fine, so it seems to only work when I don't need it to.


opnsgreg
07-02-05, 03:27 PM
so it seems to only work when I don't need it to.

Doesn't that always seem to be the case! :)

Skroob23
07-02-05, 04:35 PM
it actually started leaking again even with the new fuel lines, i'm thinking that maybe some air could be getting in causing the engine to stall and the gas to leak out; my guess is the primer bulb