You can try disassembling and cleaning the carburetor but that is likely a waste of time. Remove the muffler and check the exhaust port, it may be plugged with carbon.

Concur with romore, At that age, if you haven't cleared carbon for the exhaust port, it's definitely time. Also, if it's running, give it a heavy dose of SeaFoam or equiv. and the crud, varnish, etc. in the carb may be removed. IMHO, unless I'm dealing with an old and quality piece of equipment, taking apart a two cycle carb without a rebuild kit and a clear understanding of what you're doing is a waste of time.

Good luck,

Ev

Even though this is an older machine, a gasket and diaphragm kit or total rebuild kit for the carburetor may restore runnability as the fuel pump diaphragm is most likely stiff. You need to find out the make and model of the carb however to get the correct kit. If not, locate a suitable replacement possibly on ebay.

That was built by Homelite, they don't supply parts for the Chinese carburetor it is likely equipped with, just a new carburetor. Personally, I wouldn't spend time on it with H-D selling a new gas trimmer for $79.95 but it's up to you.

If one were to disassemble this "Chinese" carburetor and lay out the gaskets and diaphragms, one would MOST LIKELY find the identical matching parts in kits available on ebay. They include photos of the individual parts within the kits. Three companies manufacture these little carbs: Zama, Tillotson and Walbro. One may even find a matching carb for practically the cost of a complete rebuild kit.
That carb on ebay will not cost 50 dollars either.

Homelite also uses Ruixing which are not serviceable.

Zama and Ruiing have the exact same body. Their parts are interchangeable. They are probably produced in the same factory in China. There are repair kits for them as well. I forgot to mention them and have rebuilt several of them. I was in touch directly with a Ruiing sales rep in China and helped them to determine what exact parts should be included in their rebuild kit. You will find their repair kits on ebay also.

I didn't know that, thanks. I am more familiar with Walbro and Tillotson.

Yes, they are very, very similar to Zama. There are some listings on there now for them.

http://tinyurl.com/njp7vw5

The OP may want to look at this. There is a Ruiing carb for Homelite on there for $10.41.

I have the same unit: Toro 51934. The carb is Walbro. Jack's Small Engines carries a replacement carb for $47.80 (#3074502). The carb gasket is $0.75 (#9071103), and a Walbro rebuild kit is $11.58 (#615025). I only used my unit for a little over 2 hours from 2004-2006, and then the ethanol did its magic on the carb. Overall the unit is quality, with a full crank 2-cycle. I am taking the chance and just ordered the parts from Jack's (new carb, plus kit to rebuild the old one for a back-up).

Seems I ask this all the time. Did you check the spark plug and if so what did it tell you? I perpetual rich condition can kill the power and it will show on the plug. If it is indeed flooding find out why is a different thing but I'd start by checking for a clogged air filter. Make sure your not using to much oil in the fuel, error on the sightly less side.

You basically have to flood these kind of engines to start them and then wait for them to clear out while they warm up. What if it won't clear out because the mixture is too rich or there's to much oil?

I see people going to complicated stuff without talking about the basics. I don't think it n