So I says to the guy, whatcha doin with that auger powerhead?
It don't work he says... ok, want to sell it? Buy me a pack of smokes he says. Well, I'm not going to buy you any cigs, so how about $10... DEAL!
To be honest it didn't quite go exactly like that but you get the point. I did score a non-running Strikemaster 224 powerhead for $10 and he did ask for a pack of smokes for it.
First, let's give her a pull. Hmmm compression seems ok and there is spark. We have a chance! Give her another pull and uh oh, she's hanging up and it's a hard stop, I think I just wasted $10. Wait, pull the plug and the exhaust, piston looks good, no scoring, skirt seems good, rings aren't torched... hmm. Ok lets take her down.
So I yank the recoil deally do and shazam, nothin... wait, why is the rectifier touching the flywheel? Oh because the rectifier is loose and isn't adjusted correctly. Ok, set gap annnd nope. Got spark but still won't run, but at least she's free now. Time to go deeper yet. Yank the ol' flywheel, now where the hell did that key go, hmm I didn't hear it fall. Give it a good inverted shake, nothing. Eureka! someone has clearly been in here before unless a shaft key can vaporize. Now it's time to get crank deep.
As you can imagine I was thinking that I definately wasted $10 but turns out all that was wrong with it was the smaller of the two bearings on the crankshaft had started to go, it wasn't gone but I could see the balls were beginning to mushroom one side of the inner race. Cylinder looks great, no scoring. Piston was also in great condition.
At this point I've ordered a new fuel line, a carb rebuild kit, both crankshaft oil seals, piston rings, and a new bearing sourced locally. The gap on the rings wasn't bad but for $9 it can't hurt. I gave the jug to a buddy as he has a honing machine. So with all that said I currently have about 2 hours and $60 into project 224.
I'll keep you guys updated as I go, wish me luck!
Edit: FYI for the troubleshooter out there, the tank was bone dry. Carb looked clean and free of gunk, not gummed up. In other words I went thru fuel delivery before just ripping into it.